I'd Rather Drown, Thanks Though
by GoldenRose451
Summary: Dumbledore's not quite sure where his plan went down the drain. But it may have been about the time he found Harry in a dress. Warnings: contains crossdressing and ignoring society's standards. Beware Hermione all ye who enter.
1. Intro

Title: I'd Rather Drown, Thanks Though

Rated: T for language and heavy themes, subject to change

Theme: Family, Mystery

Pairings: To Be Determined

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **This was written after a pretty big fight I had with pretty much my entire family. I wrote a 3-page poem thingy ( and I still needed to deal with the emotions so while listening to Set It Off's I'd Rather Drown, I got inspired for this.**

 **Yay. I overshared. I guess I just wanted to give you an idea of my mindset when I wrote this.**

 **Anyway, if you're confused at all at points of this, please note that I absolutely adore Agatha Christie, Nancy Drew, and Sherlock Holmes. Mystery is great as long as it's not obvious to the audience. There's just something about dangling something in front of a reader's face and then showing what it is. I can think of a few popular fanfics where this would have made the story that much better.**

 **And without further ado, please enjoy this tribute to JK Rowling's breathtaking work.**

* * *

Strangely, the first thing to be noticed was the hands. Small, pale, calloused. A circular burn, rather recent, on the right.

Child. Fantastic. Magic was pushed into the broken body, speeding up the healing process. A rib snapped back into place with a wince. A third-world European farm child maybe? Beaten obviously…That burn though...

A quick check down the pants revealed male bits. Great...Penis. By the scowl on the small face, the boy was not happy with this development.

He looked around the dark room curiously. A… closet? Despite his incredulousness, the flimsy door was unmistakable for anything else. He picked up the lone blanket and felt the quality. Definitely after industrial revo, but it's so thin. It was so threadbare.

His eyes fell on a pair of glasses that looked familiar. Black round frames and thick glass… "No…" Horror spurred the boy onto his feet. "No!" And he promptly fell down again with a yelp. Shit! Broken leg! That was not good at all. No movement meant no escape.

* * *

Vernon Dursley was a man of habits. He lived and worshiped the clock. He got up at sunrise and went to bed at sundown. (Not literally, but you understand what I'm getting at.) In other words, he had a very strict schedule and he expected everyone under his thumb to do the same.

He got up in the morning at 6 30, had a proper English breakfast served to him by his beautiful wife at 7, and left the house precisely at 7 30. He arrived at Grunnings at 8, had a packed lunch of either liverwurst and cheese or leftovers at 1, and left work at 5. He was at the bar with the men until 5 30. He drove up to his house in his Mini 1000 at 6, waving to Mrs. Figg as she watered her garden. Now that was a woman he could respect. He watched the news until 6 30, a 3-course meal courtesy of his lovely wife. He helped Dudley with his homework until 7 and, as a family, watched a movie. Dudley was sent up to bed at promptly 8 and Vernon and Petunia sat in the living room either talking, watching TV, or reading until 9. Petunia would then prepare food for the morrow and go to bed. Vernon would stay up until 10 and then go to bed, satisfied with his life.

So when a certain FREAK messed with his beloved schedule, Vernon was...irritated and dealt with it accordingly. Today had been...particularly trying in terms of the boy. The freak had completely failed at one of his simple chores! And when Vernon was nice enough to let him stay with them, gave him the food off their table! Letting him feed like a parasite off the sweat of his brow! All because his beautiful Petunia happened to have be related to the freak. (Not that old fogey had anything to do with it.) Then two- TWO separate cases of his ….freakishness. Well, after Vernon had properly dealt with that, he locked him into his room with no dinner. And that had been that...Or so he thought.

At 12 19, a bang woke the Dursley family. A bang that was soon followed by the smell of smoke.

"BOY!" Vernon shot… errr… rolled out of bed (as he was no longer as fit as he was in his youth) and thundered down the stairs. To his surprise, the freak's blackened door was hanging off its hinges. "Freak! What did you do?"

"Vernon! Your blood pressure!" Petunia warned. Dudley watched, eyes wide, from the landing above.

The man in question had a moment of affection toward his wife, so kind and caring. "Now's not the time! BOY!" He stomped into the kitchen, looking to the fridge first. Last time he found the boy walking around at night, he was gorging himself on the food his wife had taken such care to make. The glutton! And then he had the audacity to first tell him off, then claim no knowledge of getting up at all!

But, no. The freak was in the half bath, judging by the open door and light.

"You little freak!" Vernon roared, barreling into it. "You are lucky you didn't burn your room down again or-"

"Or what?" That cold voice stopped him right in his tracks. Those eyes! As cold and hard as if they were made of jewels.

But he was not to be deterred. "You know full what! While you are under my roof, you will obey my rules and that means no freakishness!"

Fiery indignation leaped in those eyes, becoming those of a wild animal. "You mean magic, Uncle?" That name came laden with such utter loathing and disgust that it took him aback. Momentarily.

"THERE IS NO SUCH THING!" Vernon blustered and made his fatal mistake, attempting to swing at him.

* * *

A flurry later and the Dursleys found themselves around the dining table, held hostage there by a tiny six year old boy. It would have been comical if it hadn't been so terrifying.

* * *

Petunia was no fool. She served her husband hand and foot not because she loved him but because she knew she had chosen the wrong husband a year in their marriage. She accepted her fate and adapted. So when her nephew looked at her with those wild eyes, that eerie grin, and those strange powers that Lily definitely never had, she knew that the next few moments would define her family's fate.

Those moments were postponed though as Harry rummaged through the fridge, devouring whatever he could get his hands on. But he took the time to take Vernon's lunch and eat it slowly in front of her purple husband.

Finally, the boy leaned back and wiped his mouth with his hand. "Sorry about that. Healing the wounds your husband caused is taking a lot out of me. It doesn't help that this body is so young and weak. If your nephew had been fed and clothed properly instead of having to rely on scraps and magic to hold this body together, I, number one, wouldn't be so pissed and have to pretty much constantly rejuvenate." All of this was said with an easy smile that did not help at all the terror his words had caused.

"YOU WILL LET US GO THIS MOMENT, YOU BRAT!" Vernon's voice shocked her. "You will be lucky to see any food this week! You dare-"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP, YOU FOOL!" Petunia panted, then paled when she realized that had been her.

"Oo! This is the first time you've ever stood up to your husband, isn't it, Petunia?" Harry grinned, amusement dancing in his eyes. "Listen to your wife, Vernon. She's the brighter one."

"YOU DARE-"

"I DARE?!" Harry's eyes flashed wildly, shooting up. "You ABUSED a wizard child! What did you think's going to happen when the Wizarding World finds out? Did you think they'd take this treatment of a child, nonetheless someone as famous as me, lightly? No one will care that you are a muggle! It will be straight to Azkaban with you!"

Petunia gasped. How had Harry learned anything and so much about the Wizard World?

Harry barreled on, ignoring her outbreak thankfully. "You are rather lucky you insisted forcibly that there was no magic or I would have turned into an obscurial!" He apparently noted their blank expressions and ran his fingers through his hair. "Jeez. This is why the Ministry is crap." Petunia spotted what looked like runes carved into his arm before he dropped his arm. "An obscurial is a wizarding child that was attacked physically, emotionally, or verbally for doing magic and as a result, the magic is forced in on itself and develops a magic cancer called obscurus. The obscurus causes havoc and destruction, but tends to center on the abuser. Most obscurials die by ten. Obviously incredibly dangerous and the Ministry has no cure for it yet but hasn't bothered to try removing wizarding children from bad homes."

"Y-you-" Vernon stuttered out, eyes bulging.

Harry smirked. "I could have been a walking time bomb, if you had let me believe that magic was real? Yeah."

Suddenly, Petunia was thankful that she kept all knowledge of the Wizarding World from Harry if that was what he could have turned into.

Cool green eyes focused on her. Her soul felt bare to him. "Interesting. You knew about his nature but stayed with him… Ah. You were scared he'd come after you. Thanks for bothering to keep me alive, I suppose. Even if you should have stood up to him a long time ago." Harry stood up and stretched. "Well, I suppose I should get going. The sticking charm will last until dawn and I'll be long gone. Don't bother coming after me or I will kill you." An eerie grin twitched into place on his face. "And don't worry about Dumbledore. I've blocked this entire night from any sort of memory probing, not even Veritaserum. You obviously cannot speak about this."

With that, Harry promptly left the kitchen. Petunia waited to hear him go out the door, but he instead went upstairs. "Harry!"

Silence. Then "Yeah?"

At that moment, Petunia decided to try to make up for all of the horribleness Harry had suffered under Vernon's roof. "Under the bed in the box to the far right!" Footsteps faded into the master bedroom.

"Tuney?" Vernon hissed. At least he got that memo. "What are you doing?"

Petunia glared at him. "Protecting myself and Dudley!"

He sputtered wildly. "And what of myself?"

"You are already doomed! He's going to come back with officials and they WILL cart you away!"

"I am your HUSBAND!"

"YOU ARE MY MEAL TICKET!" She screeched. At his dumbfounded expression, she barreled on, figuring that if he tried to hurt her in the morning, she could have an excuse ready for the wizard cops. "I needed to marry to survive and you were the most normal option!" If only she hadn't been so cruel to Lily's friends! That handsome Black was too above her anyhow, but perhaps the quiet Lupin would have been a much better choice. "The one I could throw in Lily's face and show her how much better my life was than hers!" And now her sister was gone, murdered by that monster.

Petunia could only sob hysterically while her husband and son stared at her.

* * *

"Fuuuuuuuuuck." He banged his head against the wall a few more times. How was he supposed to leave them now? Vernon would cook like a kettle then probably kill Petunia in the morning. He had planned on just gathering anything that could be sold and leaving to live on the streets. But dammit! Sometimes being human absolutely sucked ass.

Harry blew a raspberry in frustration then packed away the album back in the box. He managed to pick up the box with some trouble, promising himself to start exercises as soon as he could, before going back to Ground Zero.

FUUUCK. She's crying! I can't deal with crying! Nonetheless, Harry dropped the box and brought over tissues from the next room before releasing Petunia from the charm. He awkwardly held the box while she dealt with her mess. "Do you… Do you and Dudley want to… you know… come with?"

Petunia gave a hoarse laugh. "How are we supposed to survive? I am a woman and with two boys!" Shit, she was going hysterical again.

"Uhm…" Harry's mind blanked.

"I have no skills! I can't use a typewriter!" She sobbed. "I'm not young and pretty anymore!"

"COOKING!" That stopped her in her tracks. "Uh…You're a pretty good cook and it's the 80s. Women's roles are expanding past secretary and nurse work. I can access my vault and take out enough galleons to buy a building in another country and start a restaurant. If we can get one in a wizarding city, Vernon can't get in there and we'll be surrounded by wizards who aren't going to randomly approaching me."

"But the finances! I can't do that!" Petunia sniffed, stopping to blow her nose.

"And you'll learn! And I and Dudley will help you! I'll be the cute kid taking people to their seats and Duds can wash and clean, 'cuz let's face it, you're not that pretty." Harry grinned at the affronted boy.

"Oi!" Dudley glared at him. "Rude!"

"You're not getting me to say sorry!" He giggled. Petunia finally began looking hopeful. "So whaddya say, Auntie? Do we have a deal?"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **That's… That was a wild ride. That's also not how I expected it to turn out. I thought Harry would torture them a bit before booking it and ending up under the care of a matron of an Irish girls' home. But instead we've got Petunia being redeemed and they're going to start a new life together. I think I like this a lot better. I'm not even sure where the bit about Vernon being a meal ticket came from, but I do remember that women often had to marry just to survive.**

 **Due to the sudden plot change, I have to refigure my plot. Probably not by much, but due to this and my depression mucking things up, I don't think I'll be posting chapters on a regular basis.**

 **I'll think I'll do a year a chapter when we get to the Hogwarts years. IDK in the meantime. I WAS just going to jump to year 1 after the intro, but again. Refiguring plot.**

 **Let me know what you think of my style and any criticisms and thoughts are welcomed. All flames will be sorted through and then fed to my pet dragon.**

 **THANKS FOR READING!  
**

* * *

 **Update: Just changing some wording to better fit some changes I had made to the characters.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Title: I'd Rather Drown, Thanks Though**

 **Rated: T for language and heavy themes, subject to change**

 **Theme: Family, Mystery**

 **Pairings: To Be Determined**

 **Chapter 1 : The Meeting**

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **So I wasn't expecting to come back to this quite so soon. But I wrote the intro last night and here I am the next day with the first chapter. But I know what I'm doing now.**_

 _ **Let's just make one thing clear. I really dislike Dumbledore. He could have stopped Voldemort from ever forming by being kind to Riddle. I don't think that boy ever had love in his life until he began rising in rank at Slytherin. So yah, Riddle became a horrible person, yes. But it could have been stopped by the power of love.**_

 _ **I also remember where I got the idea for Petunia leaving Vernon. There's a fanfic called Silver Tongue by Shadow Hidden By the Moon that I've been reading recently. So thank you SHBM for inspiring me!**_

 _ **So without further ado, please enjoy this tribute to JK Rowling's stellar series.**_

Dumbledore hadn't actually known the moment Lily Evans' wards dropped. The blaring of his alarms would have woken him up in the middle of the night, however it was the anniversary of Ariana's death. So he was understandably surprised when he arrived at Hogwarts around noon the next day to unbearable noise.

His magic had vanished and Mr. Dursley's memories were so protected that he began puking blood when he tried to speak of that night. Dumbledore's only conclusion that Mrs. Dursley had run off with a magical lover, probably one of the upper echelons of Tom's Death Eaters, taking his son and the Boy-Who-Lived with her.

He could only hope that he could find Harry Potter before it was too late

In fact, it took him a year to finally realize that there was nothing he could do to find Harry James Potter. He couldn't search for his magic signature and he had no blood to scry with. (Oh, times were getting desperate if he had to rely on a Dark Art such as Blood Magic.)

Five years later and several arguments with dear McGonagall later, he was again surprised to see the Ravenclaw Quill enscribe Harry Potter's name on an envelope with an address in Liverwurst, Ireland.

Severus Snape personally thought that the headmaster was overreacting. Harry Potter was found and would appear at the beginning of the year, swaggering and bragging about how he had evaded all notice. Nevertheless, there he was, standing on a nondescript street in Limerick, Ireland. He glared at the passing muggles in annoyance. He had three different potions that needed attention.

"Excuse me, mister?" To his surprise, a small girl tugged at his sleeve. Inexplicably, he thought that this girl was the mirror image of what he might have had with Lily...

"Yes?" He shook off the past, reminding himself that he had lost that chance a long time ago.

"Could you please open this for me?" She asked, looking shyly up with her green eyes through her black bangs.

Severus blinked, looked at the jar, then looked at her. "Fine."

"You see, no one at home can open it." She began jabbering as he attempted to open the container. "Not even Miss Suzie! And she's really strong! She's the barista at Auntey Tuney's cafe over there." She pointed across the street to a shop by the name of Flowery Cafe.

"Did you cross the street?" Severus resorted to magic, only to find that someone had put a variety of charms on it to keep it shut. He assumed that 'Auntey Tuney' was this girl's relative.

"Yeah."

"That was dangerous." He revoked. "You could have been run over, you stupid girl." Finally. He handed the jar back. "Be more careful."

Her cheeks puffed and reddened. "I look both ways!"

Severus raised a brow. "Of course you do." He checked his pocket watch. Dumbledore made him wait this long, he could wait a little longer. "I will escort you back to your.. Aunt Tuney, is it?"

"Uh-huh! She's really cool! And was that a pocket watch?" She chattered as he guided her across the street. "Where did you get it?"

"It was a heirloom from my mother." Severus answered shortly.

"Cool." And that was that. "Auntey Tuney lets me take people to their seats and work the register." She said as they entered the homey little cafe. "Sometimes I even get to help her in the back! You should try her fudge, it's amazing!"

"I will consider your recommendation." He drawled. "Perhaps I will come back. But for now, I need to meet someone. Don't go running across any roads again."

"Yessir!" She saluted cheerily "Thank you, mister!" She spun around and darted into the back, black braids swinging behind her.

Severus banished the smile that had crept on his face, scowling heavily. What was never to be should remain that way and not bring up ghosts. He left the cafe swiftly, only to come face to face with the missing headmaster.

"Headmaster, why am I here?" Severus glared at the annoying old man.

Dumbledore blinked owlishly at him. "Severus! You can enter!" A grin spread across his face, eyes twinkling. "Fantastic!"

"And why wouldn't I be able to enter?" He couldn't help but snark back.

"Because when I attempted, I was sent quite suddenly into the sewage system." Dumbledore gave a sigh. "My favorite robes, ruined!"

Severus Snape couldn't help but give a snort at the mental image. "I was…escorted by a child who is a resident here. Perhaps she holds a part?"

"Hmm…" Dumbledore stroke his beard. "Yes. She's probably keyed into the-"

"Oi, are you gonna to stand out here all day or are you gonna come in?" A heavyset woman of African descent glared at them from the doorway. She had been at the host stand and seemed to be in charge.

"Ah, we'll come in." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "So sorry about that."

"Hmph." She held the door open for the two wizards to enter. "Where would you like to sit?"

"Actually, we have business with the owners. Is Harry Potter available?" Dumbledore asked, trying to look as innocent as he could.

If the woman had been wary before, she was suspicious now. "Whaddya want from him?"

As the headmaster dealt with the woman radiating protective vibes, Severus looked around the cafe. It was done in warm creams and browns with a stone wall at the back and a green tiled floor that eerily resembled scales. Flowers were everywhere.

"Fine." The woman finally gave in to Dumbledore's insistence. "Let me sit you, then I'll get the boss."

"Thank you so much, my dear." The old man nodded sagely. "It is much appreciated."

She grumbled, obviously not buying it. Smart woman. She grabbed two menus and led them to a booth in the back that was right under a painting of a red-haired woman. "Stay here." She abruptly left after slamming the menus down. Severus watched her make a beeline to the back, stopping by a waitress who headed to the front, probably to man the host stand.

"HI!"

Both wizards jumped. It was the girl, her braids undone, and bright-eyed. "Oh my!" Dumbledore put a hand over his chest. "Well, you gave quite the startle."

"Sorry!" She giggled. "I saw Mister Sour Face and had to come over. I'm so glad you found your friend!"

"He is not my friend." Severus gritted out. "He is my employer and my name is Severus Snape."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mister Snape!" She bounced excitedly. Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling happily during this entire exchange. "Say, do you want to see some magic?"

Severus blinked. She had magic?! "You shouldn't-"

A fan of cards cut off his warning. "Think of someone, then pick a card, any card!"

"..." He simply stared at the girl, his mind shutting down.

"Oo, can I choose one as well?" Dumbledore asked, leaning forward interestedly.

"Sure!" The headmaster took one. "Now lay it face up on the table."

"Now what?"

"Erhm….I don't remember this one." She scowled and pulled out a notebook. "Six of Hearts… Oh! You're going to regret something in the near future."

"Oh dear." Dumbledore muttered. "I don't like the sound of that."

Severus snorted. Somehow that led to him receiving the deadliest stare on the planet bar the basilisk. "Please, Mister Snape?" Salazar! Why did she choose him?

He was never going to hear the end of this, judging by the headmaster's glittering eyes. "Very well." He picked one at random, not really caring.

"Evie!" A harried FAMILIAR woman appeared next to them, slightly out of breath. "Are you-" Then she caught sight of them. "Severus Snape. Professor Dumbledore." Evie looked up excitedly about to say something, but the woman hushed her.

"Petunia." So this was Aunt Tuney. But how did they know each other and to such an extent? "I heard you married."

"I left him and started this cafe." Petunia answered shortly, tugging Evie close by the back of her dress. "The divorce was finalized three years ago."

Severus nodded and left it at that. It wasn't his business. "You look… well."

"Ah." That took her by surprise. "Thank you." It was true. She had gained weight that gave her the curves she never had and rounded out her face. The years had been kind to her.

A clearing of the throat introduced Dumbledore back into the conversation. The damnable man was going to hold this over him. "It is a pleasure, Miss Evans. We actually came to speak to your nephew."

Petunia narrowed her eyes, clearly thinking this over. "Evie, do you want to-"

The girl shook her dark head. "I'll be fine, Auntie. I'll just go get a chair."

The woman nodded. "Alright, dear." Petunia sat down next to Severus, startling him. A waitress came by with complimentary waters before Evie came back hauling a chair.

"Auntie, Molly's being mean!" The girl whined. "Again!"

Petunia laughed. "Did she flick you too?" At the nod, "She did that to Dudley too, dear. It's just her way of showing affection." A pause and worry creased her brow. "Are you-"

Evie shook her head. "No."

"Good." She nodded firmly before turning to Dumbledore. "Now. Why do you want to speak to him?"

The headmaster frowned. "I was hoping to-"

"Professor," Petunia cut him off abruptly, leaning forward, "let me put it this way. The only way you are getting to my nephew through me. I am sure that you have already discovered that all our mail, **all** , go straight to a post box. I pick it up every Tuesday and sort through it myself. The only reason why you are able to come in here at all is because you were escorted in. So convince me why I should let you anywhere near my family."

Severus, being the Slytherin he was, didn't outwardly react but inside his jaw was to the floor. This… This was **not** the Petunia he knew, the jealous sister, the muggle. This Petunia had gone through fire to become **better**. She had always felt… dead before, but now. Now she felt alive.

Evie grinned at him. Severus glared back. Her grin, impossibly, grew larger.

"Oh my." It seemed Dumbledore had regained his equilibrium. "Severus, please remind me not to let Professor McGonagall and Miss Evans ever meet. I do not believe I'd be able to handle the ensuing chaos."

"Duly noted, Headmaster." His comment had Evie snickering. Why was this girl latching onto him like this? If she saw him as of all things a potential father figure...

"Well," Dumbledore continued to tell Petunia all the reasons to let the Boy- Who- Lived- To- Be- A- Pain go to Hogwarts. Severus tuned him out by going over what he needed to when he got home. The specially ordered Polyjuice needed to be checked, then the Draught needed the beans-

"I CAN GET WHAT?" Evie's startled shriek brought him out of his thoughts abruptly. "My magic will NOT be sealed, you git!"

"Where we talking about you?" Severus drawled.

"YES!"

"Eve, please sit down!" Petunia tugged at her dress. "No one's going to be sealing anyone's magic away." She glared at Dumbledore. "Isn't that right, Headmaster?"

"It's rarely done anyhow, only criminals and muggleborns who wish to be obli- **forget** " He had almost forgotten who he was speaking to, "the Wizarding World receive it." Severus spoke up, wondering what the hell was Dumbledore's plan by bringing magic sealing up.

"You promise?" Eve's eyes, bright green now, pinned him.

"I do." Severus could only wonder at the change those two words brought on the girl.

She completely relaxed and plopped back down into her seat. "Thank you."

Petunia pursed her lips. "You just lost points, Dumbledore. I do not-"

"Auntie, it's OK." Eve waved her hand sluggishly from her slumped position. "We were planning to let me go a long time ago."

Petunia sighed reluctantly. "Fine. Posture, dear." The girl sat up straight reluctantly.

Dumbledore frowned. "I'm sorry, I feel like I am missing something here. We were speaking of Harry Potter, or am I wrong?"

At that, Petunia gave a surprised snort of laughter. "Oh dear."

Eve pouted. "Is crossdressing just not common in the Wizarding World?" She shook her head. "I took the name Eve after my mom."

"..."

While Severus Snape would fondly remember Dumbledore's face for the years to come, he was in such a similar state that he had to look in a Pensieve to see the headmaster's expression when they realized that the Boy-Who-Lived liked girl's clothing.

After they had eaten some of the Flower Cafe's treats and Harry had left due to boredom, they discussed what Harry would learn and how would they communicate with him among other things. Petunia was surprisingly interested in health services such as diet and medical.

"And do I send Harry's information to Nurse Pomfrey?" She asked, pen poised to take yet another note.

Dumbledore laughed. "Oh, I'm sure that a simple examination would take care of all that."

Petunia gave him a stern look. "I did not leave Vernon simply because we disagreed. He was abusive when angry which was often. Harry often received the brunt end of this and the counselor he goes to fears it did not end with physical abuse." She wasn't insinuating…? "It has gone to such an extreme that he consciously blocks Vernon and our life before out and cannot even handle being touched."

Severus felt the floor drop out under him, barely noticing that Dumbledore had turned white as a ghost. Lily's son? That bright girl that he had seen...Eve, no. **Harry**.

Petunia sighed. "I don't know what you were planning when you left him on our doorstep, Dumbledore, but he should have gone to Sirius."

Severus swallowed. "Black's in Azkaban. He's the one who betrayed Lily...and he killed Peter."

The blonde's jaw dropped in shock. "Oh…. What about Remus?"

"He's a werewolf." Dumbledore had aged within moments. "The ministry would be out for his blood the moment they found out."

"Oh."

The table was silent.

"Uhm… Miss Petunia?" Their waitress, a young thing barely 16, stood awkwardly. "I have the bill."

"Ah. I'll take it." Petunia answered, taking the paper. "For those long gone?" Her blue eyes met Severus' gaze.

"Yes, for those long gone." He nodded, answering her unsaid question. He would take Harry under his wing while he was at Hogwarts.

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **Whoo! That was a doozy! Six pages done over two days doesn't seem like much, but keep it mind that I did most of it within the space of a few hours.**_

 _ **I like the character of Snape, even if he's a shithead. So I thought I'd give him the chance to be a better person. Because he didn't recognize 'Eve', I figured that would make him give Harry a blank slate as his personality goes against the previous image Severus had.**_

 _ **Don't worry though. As much as I like redemption arcs, I hate the Umbitch. Besides, I have no background on her or even any room to push any sympathy into the character canon-wise. And I am not about to make up some sob story that would make any sort of sense.**_

 _ **If Harry had the 'Power of Love' jutsu that Naruto does, I'm pretty sure that only Umbridge would remain standing against it.**_

 _ **First year might take longer, might not. I'll see how it goes. Also, McGonagall isn't speaking to Dumbledore right now because they had a big fight after Harry's name had been written on the envelope. That's why she's not here and Snape is.**_

 _ **Let me know what you think of my style and any criticisms and thoughts are welcomed. All flames will be sorted through and then fed to my pet dragon.**_

 _ **THANKS FOR READING!**_


	3. Chapter 2

**Title: I'd Rather Drown, Thanks Though**

 **Rated: T for language and heavy themes, subject to change**

 **Theme: Family, Mystery**

 **Pairings: [Harry/Voldemort], IDK**

 **Chapter 2 : The First Day**

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hey, something I didn't mention last chapter cuz I forgot is that I'm taking suggestions for pairings. I know I want Harry with Voldemort and I've been toying with a few ideas for Draco. Let me know which ones you want and I'll see if I can get it to fit!**_

 _ **And sorry I didn't upload earlier. I've written this out in a very odd pattern, whatever part I'm currently inspired for. And I was sick for a while so I was too fuzzy to upload anything. Still got a nasty cough that makes it hard to sleep.**_

-0-

Harry was very excited to go on the Hogwarts Train. It was so shiny and red! It was like… like a signal of wonder to all ages…. Like Christmas!

"Thank you, Aunt Petunia." Harry squeezed her wrist.

"Stay safe, dear." Petunia smiled bravely, but she was obviously keeping back tears.

"I'll stay in touch, Auntie." He promised. "And I'll do my best." He then turned to his cousin. "Uhm..."

"See ya, Harry. Have fun." Dudley offered. Oh good. They had gotten into a fight because of an idiot wizarding boy Harry had met in a shop. He was glad they weren't leaving on bad terms.

"Alright! See you on the holidays!" Harry bounced towards the big red train, dragging his thankfully lightened trunk behind him.

"Bye Harry!" He waved back at them before boarding the transportation. It took him a bit, but he found a mostly empty compartment towards the back. Just a redheaded boy in it.

"Hey, can I come in?" Harry asked, smiling charmingly.

The boy stared blankly at him before nodding slowly. "A-Are you H-Harry Potter?"

"Oh, you know me?" Harry blinked, not expecting that. "Well, that rather puts me at a disadvantage. What's your name?"

"R-Ronald Weasley." The poor boy seemed rather dazed.

"Well, it's a pleasure, Mister Weasley." He nodded firmly, deciding to leave Weasley alone for the moment and give him the chance to collect himself. So he opened up Hogwarts : A History and continued reading. He had already glanced through his books to get an idea of what he was going to be learning. Now he was actually reading it.

"...So which Quidditch team do you like?"

Harry glanced up. "...What's Quidditch?"

Weasley gaped openly. "W-What! You don't know what Quidditch is?"

He shook his head, closing his book. This would probably take a while. "No. Sorry. What is it?"

"Just the most awesome sport ever!" The redhead sputtered, gesturing wildly. "It-It's amazing! Everybody rides on broomsticks and-"

Harry's brows shot up. "I'm sorry, I know I'm being rude. But broomsticks?" He shook his head. Surely not…

"Yeah, rugs were outlawed about 50 years back but broomsticks were always better anyhow. They're faster and more balanced." Ron informed him.

"...Kay." Harry shook his head. Well then. "So what are the positions?"

"Well there's-" Weasley continued to extol the virtues of Quidditch until an older lady popped her head in.

"Hello there, dearies. I have snacks if you want to buy them."

"None for me." The scruffy redhead seemed to wilt. Probably had no money.

"What sort of candies do you have?" Harry scooched over, deciding to buy some for Weasley.

"I have Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Cauldron Cakes, Chocolate Frogs, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Jelly Slugs, Liquorice Wands, Pumpkin Pasties, Explosive Fairy Dust, and Powdered Porcupine. Which do you want, dearie?"

"Uh…" Harry blanked. Well, this was different. "Two of everything except the Liquorice Wands. Ron, do you want one of those?"

"Wha?" Weasley blinked. "You-"

"I'm buying you food. Believe me, I can afford it. Do you want one or not?" Harry knew his tone came out a little short and winced inside.

"...No, thanks." Fantastic. He didn't take it the wrong way.

"Alright then. Enjoy and save some room for the feast."

"Thank you!" The two boys split the sweets between them. "So is this Fairy Dust like Pixie Stix or Pop Rocks?"

Weasley stared at him blankly. "...I don't know what either of those are."

"It's a muggle sweet." Harry explained, pouring some of the wizarding treat into his mouth. "Umph!" He swallowed, wincing. "Oh yeah," he coughed, "that's a more intense version of Pop Rocks."

The brat just laughed at him. "What did you think would happen? It's called Exploding for a reason."

"Jerk!" He tried to clear his throat the best he could.

The door to the compartment opened again and a girl popped her head in. "Hey, do either of you- Oh! Are you OK?"

Harry shook his head and gulped down some water, eternally thankful to Aunt Petunia. "Oh dear Lord Almighty! I think I'm fine now." He sipped some more.

"If that's your reaction to Fairy Dust, stay away from Acid Pops. Those can burn a hole right through your tongue." Weasley advised sagely.

"Why would you want that?" Harry gaped. Wizarding treats were dangerous!

"That sounds horrible!" The girl agreed, sliding into a seat. "Sorry, I'm Hermione Granger." She stuck her hand out.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Granger." He shook her hand. "Harry Potter and this is Ron Weasley."

"Hi." Good Lord, Weasley! The boy had just shoved an entire chocolate frog into his mouth before he spoke.

"Pleasure." Granger grimaced, not that Harry could blame her. "I don't suppose either of you have found a toad? He lost his." She waved towards the quiet boy hovering in the doorway

"No, sorry." Harry shook his head. "Try checking with one of the older students. Maybe they know a spell that can help?"

"Thank you, I'll try that." Granger stood up. "You better get your robes on, we're almost there."

"Thanks." He waved as she left. "Well, she's nice."

"Seriously?" Weasley made a funny expression with his face. "She's got huge hair and her teeth-"

Harry frowned at the other boy. "Really? She's eleven. We're all still growing up into our bodies. And it's not like you're any better, Mister Foal."

"What?"

He rolled his eyes. What he would give for someone who could understand his insults for once. Dudley was just too easy. "You're all gangly and skinny. You probably trip over yourself just like a baby horse."

Weasley flushed at this. "S-So?"

Harry snorted. "Relax, Weasley. Nobody's expecting you to have it all together and puberty's a right mess. Just don't be mean and rude and try your best. You'll be fine."

"Thanks." The redhead grinned cheerfully, giving him a warm fuzzy feeling in his chest. Aww…

Then the door opened to a familiar face behind which was two large firsties who threatened Dudley's spot as largest boy in England. "Hey, I heard Harry Potter was in this compartment. Guess I heard wrong, huh."

"Nope." Harry frowned. "Hi. You're the boy from the clothing store."

The blond seemed off-footed by this. "...Yes."

"What you said to my cousin was rather rude." Harry sighed. Well, this was awkward. "Want to start again? Hi, my name's Harry Potter." He stretched out his hand.

The boy shook his hand. "Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

"It's nice to properly meet you." Harry smiled serenely. "So a fan of Bond, huh?"

"What's Bond?"

-0-

The rest of the trip was filled with Harry trying to explain what James Bond was, then what films were. It was when they disembarked was when the actual trouble started.

"Nope." Harry headed back towards the train.

"Potter?" Malfoy called out, confused.

"I'm not crossing that lake! I'm finding another way!" He searched for the older classmen. They had gone another way, assumedly the first years got a 'special trip'. Which sucked majorly.

"Potter!" He could hear Malfoy and Weasley follow behind him. "It's tradition!"

"Tradition can kiss my ass! I can't cross!"

"What's going on over here?" The big wizard, who was absolutely adorable by the way, shambled over, followed by Granger who had obviously told him. Well at least there was going to be a solution.

"I can't cross the lake!" Harry repeated.

"There's no danger at all." The wizard explained. "The mermaids push the boats along and everyone is safe."

Unbidden, dread crept up Harry's limbs and his breath went short. "I can't cross!" But the man wouldn't listen!

"Now, come on, kiddie." The wizard pushed him gently into a boat. Harry scraped his knee as he fell in. The pain only added to his building emotions. He couldn't- He couldn't- "See? Just fine. Like I said. Alright! Everyone on!"

"...Potter?" Someone said, but all Harry could focus on was the water. Cold. Unforgiving. Wet. Suffocating! Can't- I can't- Not working! Get her off! Get her off! Get-

-0-

Harry woke up, being surrounded by concerned faces, namely a strict-looking woman, Malfoy, Weasley, Granger, and the boy who lost his toad but apparently found again. "Mister Potter, how are you feeling?" The woman asked.

"Uhm… Considerably calmer than I was a few moments ago. Did I pass out to an attack? Again?" Harry huffed. He thought he was over those! He must have been brought into Hogwarts after he passed out.

The witch raised a sharp brow at Granger who looked strangely ashamed. "I'm sorry, Harry! I saw that you were freaking out about the lake so I may have knocked you out so you could cross it. I'm so so-"

"Thank you." Harry sat up and squeezed her hand then quickly withdrew it before the pain could get to him. "I'm hydrophobic. Almost drowned one time and never been able to take a bath since. I really appreciate it."

"Oh." Granger blushed. She was so cute! Harry had to keep himself from squishing her. That would not turn out well for him at all. "You're welcome."

"Well then," The woman stood up, brushing her knees off, "I suppose as long as there's no harm done. Mister Potter, I expect you to report to Madam Pomfrey at the Hospital Wing and explain the situation to her after the sorting. The other teachers will be informed."

"Yes, ma'am." Harry stood up too. "Thank you."

She nodded sharply and swept to the front of the room. "If you could all turn your attention to me."

"Malfoy, is that a wizarding thing?" At his confusion, Harry expounded. "The swooshy-sweepy thing that your mom did too."

"Swooshy-sweepy?" Malfoy was hilariously horrified and he spluttered for a moment. This was going to be fun. "A-As far as I'm aware. My godfather who is the potions professor here does it too."

"Oh yeah, Professor Snape." Weasley huffed. "My brothers are always complaining about him."

"Mister Snape is your godfather?" Harry brightened before scowling. "I've met him. He stole my card." Ignoring their confused faces, he muttered "Didn't even bother telling me which one he got either."

They were finally called into the Great Hall, which lacked in architecture but made up for in the magical ceiling. Harry looked around curiously, automatically noting the exits, but also noticing Snape at the table on the dias. He scowled at him when the professor looked at him, ignoring the sudden prickles at his scar for the moment.

Harry crossed his arms and pointedly turned to the shy boy. "So I never caught your name."

"Uh… I'm Neville Longbottom." The sweetheart was flushing. "T-Thank you for helping me earlier. Trevor's always running away."

"Well, why don't you get a cage for him?" Harry asked, curious.

"He really doesn't like them." Neville explained.

"Ah." Harry nodded. That's when the sorting began and first years went up to get assigned. "So which house are you hoping for?"

"Gran wants me in Gryffindor." The other boy explained. "But I'd rather be in Hufflepuff."

Harry frowned. The house of the brave? Didn't really fit the shy boy. The house of hard work and patience would suit him more. "I think you'll do well in Hufflepuff."

"Thanks." They watched as Granger was surprisingly sorted into Gryffindor.

"Huh. I would have thought she'd be in Ravenclaw." Malfoy commented.

"She did knock me out." Harry shrugged. Longbottom was next. "Good luck!" He gave the poor boy two thumbs-up. He clearly was incredibly nervous over this, but still gave a shaky smile and went up. It probably didn't help that this was in front of a crowd.

It took five minutes, apparently a hat stall, before the hat shouted "Gryffindor" and a pale Longbottom went towards the lion table. Harry was surprised, making a note to ask him about it later.

Both he and Malfoy had to wait about half an hour for their names to be called. Malfoy went up first and got sorted into Slytherin before the hat could touch a single greasy hair. He seriously needed to go au naturale. But he swaggered off to his table as if he owned the castle.

"Harry Potter." The entire room went silent when his name was called.

It was a little troubling. Was one of his parents famous or something? You would think Auntie would tell him that. He went up to the stool and let the woman from before, Professor McGonagall, who was apparently also the Assistant Headmistress, put the Sorting Hat on his head.

 _Well, hello. This is different._

" _You are not telling any of my secrets to anyone or I will set you on fire."_

 _Are you threatening me? No fire can harm me, brat._

" _No, I'm telling you the consequences of betraying my confidence in you."_ Harry brought up a few choice memories of his destructive tendencies.

 _OK, OK! I get it!_ The Sorting Hat huffed. _Jeez, I can't anyways. I was charmed by Rowena Ravenclaw herself to be unable to tell anything about the people I sort, other than to warn when a child's in an abusive household._

" _Oh, well that's nice of her."_ Harry approved of the safety measure. " _Still could have told me that first."_

 _Of course, Dumbledore's just ignores me- Never mind._ The Hat cut itself off. _Now where do we sort you?_

" _He does what now?"_ Harry was horrified at the implications of what it just said. What was going on in this school?

 _Definitely not Ravenclaw. You learn to get by, not because you enjoy it._ It was clearly ignoring him which he did not appreciate it.

"Are you calling me stupid?" Oh shit, he said that out loud. Chuckles spread through the Hall. He pulled the Hat further over his burning face in embarrassment.

The Hat cackled in his head. _Oh, you're going to be fun. Seriously though, you wouldn't know what to do in Ravenclaw. Not Gryffindor, I think. They tend to be close-minded and you'd be getting into fights left and right there. Besides, you're not particularly brave._

" _I call it having a healthy sense of self-preservation."_ Harry huffed, still blushing.

 _Tomato, tomahto. You're loyal and kind, but also cunning and brash. Hufflepuff or Slytherin. Do you have a preference?_

" _Not really. I mean Malfoy's in Slytherin, but I'd still be friends with him either way."_ Harry shrugged. He'd have to warn his housemates not to touch him in both cases.

 _Wait, what?_ He could feel the Hat digging through his memories. _Holy shit! That's one hell of a curse._

" _It's a curse? I thought it was a psychological reaction to-"_

 _Nope. That lady did a right number on you. Definitely not Hufflepuff then. They are very touchy. So…_ "Slytherin!" After a shocked silence, the group began murmuring loudly.

Harry handed the Hat to a surprised Professor McGonagall. "Thank you, Mister Hat."

"No problem, kid. Tell Pomfrey about that curse, understood?"

"Yes, sir!" Harry trotted off to Malfoy's side and plopped down beside him. He turned to his new housemates. "Hi! I'm Harry Potter! What are your names?"

-0-

Severus wasn't quite sure what to make of Harry's sudden change in attitude at the sorting and definitely wasn't sure what to make of him being in Slytherin. But either way, he had to pull Potter aside as he missed the speech Severus gave his House.

"You!" He was not expecting to be bombarded as soon as Harry came in the door, escorted by Pomfrey's assistant, one Melody Barmola. "Professor, you stole my card! I can't believe you didn't even let me tell your fortune!" Barmola gave a surprised snort of laughter.

Severus glared at the medical assistant. **That** was what it was about? Just because he forgot to give it back? "You mean this?" He slid the playing card out of his sleeve and handed it to him.

"Hmm…" Harry examined it. "The three of hearts. It means an opportunity to change your destiny. Of course because you didn't let me tell you before, it's already past. My fortunes usually come true within an hour or two." Harry informed him, grinning as if he was never angry in the first place.

"I see…" Severus was still suspicious. "Do you mind telling me why you weren't with the other first years?"

"Professor McGonagall ordered Mister Potter to the Hospital Wing after an incident at the lake." Barmola informed him, handing him a scroll.

Severus raised a brow, deciding to look at it later. "Thank you, Barmola. That will be all."

She nodded, used to his brusqueness. "See you later, Harry." Already on first name basis.

"Bye, Miss Melody." Harry waved as she left.

"Potter." Severus caught his attention again. "Since you missed my lecture, I will sum it up."

"OK." The boy nodded, all his attention on the potions master.

"We must present a united front to the rest of the Houses due to our poor reputation." The lecture poured off his tongue easily. He had been doing it for many years after all. "If you have an issue with a fellow Slytherin, you will deal with it inside the common room. If you have an issue with another student from one of the other Houses, you may ask your fellow students for help. You will not give more grief than is due. You also will not bully others or anyone. You **will** be punished harshly, especially if I find out that it is based on blood. Understand me so far?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Besides the prefects that are assigned by the Headmaster, there is a different government for each House. Ravenclaw is a representative democracy, Hufflepuff is a pure democracy, Slytherin resembles an aristocratic monarchy. Gryffindor is ruled by the prefects and the Head. Do you need me to explain any of those terms?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I've got it… But what do you mean Slytherin resembles an aristo-monarchy?"

"There is a court system based around chess pieces that is decided based on power and wealth as well as year. The Slytherins not a part of the court are called pawns. There can only be one King and one Queen, the ruling one is called the Crown. The Rulers assists me with grading and governs you. However, there can be multiples of every other piece, two per piece per year with different responsibilities, one to each gender. For example, Draco Malfoy is automatically the first boys' Bishop as his father is politically powerful and wealthy. He is the leader of the first years and only obeys the Rulers, prefects, and me. Whoever is the first girls' Bishop will have to listen to him along with the aforementioned. Understand so far?"

"Yes, sir. We all listen to him. Despite his big head." Harry nodded. "What about the other pieces?"

"Knights answer to Bishops and are ...friendly with other Houses. Rooks are the lowest Court piece and must be competent in dueling. Each Court piece is available for any questions you may have. Tuesdays and Thursdays I myself will be in the common room. You may also request meetings. If it is an emergency, you will head to the nearest or appropriate teacher."

Every semester, I, the King, and the Queen will meet with each student and go over your grades. If you need either help or a challenge, we will provide it. Do you need me to go over anything again?"

"Erm… I think I've got it." Harry answered. "Court system, obey Bishops and Rulers, don't be an ars- I mean, **bully** ," he quickly corrected himself, "and everything runs on power and wealth. Understood, sir!" He saluted.

Severus' mouth twitched without him meaning to. "Good. Ask Malfoy about the current Court. Tomorrow we will discuss how to best accommodate you and your… needs."

Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "Honestly? As long as people don't touch me and I stay away from bodies of water, I'll be fine."

...Water? "Very well." Severus inclined his head. "Do you need dinner?"

"No, sir. I ate at the Hospital Wing." Harry explained.

"Good. Go to your dorm."

"Yes, sir! Good night, sir!" Harry saluted and left him.

Severus took a glance over the scroll he still held and felt the beginnings of a headache. He needed the Court's help for this. "Shawn! Office!"

-0-

Rebecca Shawn did not become the Crown by any power or wealth her parents had like Malfoy likely would but by pure determination and hard work, overcoming the prejudice of being a muggleborn. She was tenacious and driven, intelligent and confident even at her young age. "You want to speak about Harry Potter, sir?" Of course he wanted to speak about the Boy-Who-Lived. Everyone did, wanting to know how to treat him and how to deal with Dumbledore's weapon.

The professor pulled out a carafe of firewhiskey which made her wince. That was a bad sign. Only once before had he ever pulled it out and it was not something she wanted to remember. It was only after Snape had finished his glass did he speak. "You are going to take Potter under your wing."

"Yes, sir." So winning him over then. "What would you like me to tutor him in?" She was excellent at spellwork and runes.

"Whatever he needs. Tell the Court to guard him and keep him from being touched at all times and away from bodies of water. Malfoy will obviously be in charge of him."

Rebecca hesitated, going over what he just said. "Uhm...Sir? The touching…?"

Snape handed her the medical scroll, sitting down in his chair. Rebecca knew better than to sit. "Injury analysis from ages 1 to 5 indicates abuse especially around the fifth year and fights from 7 onwards. There are traces of malnutrition that needs attention. His scar has intense Dark magic in it but is contained to simply that. Somehow, a curse that turns touching into pain has been transferred to him when he was 5. I am assuming he bumped into a carrier and they managed to transfer or share the curse into a child. He also has an intense fear of water."

Rebecca had paled during this speech. The poor boy! She quickly flicked over the scroll, noting the details he had left out. "Is his curse enhanced by the scar?"

"Unknown at this point. He has already been scheduled for regular check ups with Pomfrey and a mind healer. I will be requesting for a curse breaker to come and study the curse." Snape replied. "His Muggle aunt already knows about the touch to pain, but not the cause. She's also told me that he blocks out 5 and back. She will need to know everything else."

"Understood. I will draft up a letter." Rebecca nodded and laid the scroll back on the desk. "I will inform Malfoy tonight and the others in our meeting tomorrow. Is there anything else at the moment?"

Snape considered this. "Potter has been living with Muggles this entire time. Find out what he knows about the Wizarding World."

"Yes, sir." Rebecca quickly left and headed straight to the first years' area. She knocked on the boys' room. A lanky preteen opened the door, Theodore Nott if she remembered correctly. "I need to speak to Malfoy."

"Yes, ma'am." Nott nodded, eyes wide. "Hey, Malfoy! The Crown's here to see you!"

-0-

Harry was truly excited about his new House. He got Mister Snape as his Head after all and snakes were pretty cool. The Court system was an interesting concept. He was a little worried about Malfoy being in charge of him though. The boy seemed rather prejudiced and had the possibility of being a bit of a bully. Harry would have to help him with that. Maybe he could get Malfoy and Granger to be friends. He'd probably have to hang out in the library for them to meet more often then.

"...What is that?"

"Sorry?" Harry looked up to see his roommates staring at him.

"What are you hugging?" Zabini reiterated. He seemed rather wary of Harry which was rather odd but seemed nice otherwise.

"Oh? This?" Harry lifted up his stuffed giant squid. "This is Mister Squiggles. He gives nice hugs."

"..."

"He's…huge." Nott answered, a strange look on his face.

"Mm-hm." Harry nodded. The cephalopod was bigger than he was, though it was mostly tentacles. "I got him at a carnival a while ago. I can't hug others, so I hug Mister Squiggles instead."

"Oh. Good for you." One of the two bigger boys… Goyle was his name?... nodded and seemed to just accept his statement. Which was actually rather nice to not be questioned for once.

"Why?" Zabini seemed almost… offended? Which was weird.

"Curse." Malfoy answered for him, reentering the room, looking a little green. "You -uh…" The blonde stared at Harry's stuffed squid. "What is that?" He sounded strained.

Harry almost cackled. It was too funny! "This is Mister Squiggles! Say hi!"

-0-

 _ **Whew! Sorry that took me so long. I was stuck on the part where Harry meets Ron, Hermione, and Draco. Let me know what you think!**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: I'd Rather Drown, Thanks Though**

 **Rated: T for language and heavy themes, subject to change**

 **Theme: Family, Mystery**

 **Pairings: Harry/Voldemort, Petunia/Snape**

 **Chapter 3 : Hiatus Notice**

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **I just want to say that I am sorry to do this to everyone whose been following this, but I am putting IRDTT on hiatus momentarily. Mostly because I'm doing way too much lore wise and it's burning out my muse for this story. Also because this is just very rough, but that's another thing entirely. So I am posting what I've already written as of right now, but will be rewriting everything and hopefully I'll be able to be better about regular posting.**_

 _ **Thank you so much to everyone who's followed and favorited this. I really do appreciate it. I just really want to give you a quality product because that is what you guys deserve. And this… This is not it. Thanks for understanding.**_

-0-

Breakfast was interesting to say the least. Most of the Slytherins acted hostile until a rather pretty sixth year, one Rebecca Shawn, introduced herself and offered tutoring.

"Thank you so much, Miss Shawn! I really appreciate it." Harry smiled sweetly. "But I would actually like to know more about the Wizarding World. I only really know what my aunt told me and she's a muggle, so…" He shrugged.

Across the table, Zabini choked on his juice. Shawn, on the other hand, simply frowned. "Well, what do you know about us?"

"Uhm…" Harry tapped his chin. "There's a prison called Azkaban that's guarded by creatures called Dementors and wizards use wands and items can be charmed to do certain stuff and… uhm…"

"So just about nothing." Malfoy huffed. "I can't believe you were raised by bloody Muggles."

Harry laughed nervously. "Yeah…" Oh dear, how was this going to affect him?

-0-

Harry wasn't completely sure he liked his schedule. On Mondays, he had Transfiguration Double then Herbology after lunch. On Tuesdays, Charms, History of Magic, and Defense Double. On Wednesdays, Transfiguration again, Charms, and Herbology also again. On Thursdays, there were Charms, History of Magic, and Defense. Fridays were Potions Double and Herbology for a final time.

It seemed a little… advanced? Shouldn't they be going over basics? Like instead of Defense, an introduction to magic as a whole? Unless that was added into Defense. And why weren't there options to attend Wizarding Culture for muggleborn and people like him? Why did he have to get a tutor?

"Uhm… Malfoy, is my schedule right?" Harry pushed it toward him.

"Yep. Matches with mine." The boy confirmed. "Why?"

"It's just…seems odd to me that's all." Harry shrugged, not really wanting to go in more depth than that. He'd simply wait and watch first before he judged. Maybe they just had better health care considering the blase Weasley gave burning a hole through his bloody tongue.

-0-

"Hey, do you know what's up with Weasley today?" Potter asked, having tugged Longbottom aside after Transfiguration.

"Uhm… Not really…" The boy shrugged.

Draco rolled his eyes. "He probably just gave himself a stomachache with how fast he ate."

Potter's face quirked before the expression was smoothed away by his standard look, kind and eager and oh so pleasant. "Maybe. I should go ask him." He … bounced, for the lack of a better word, toward the red-headed boy in question. "Hey, Weasley!"

"Is it just-" Longbottom cut himself off. "No, it's just me."

"Well, what is it?" Draco asked. Normally, he wouldn't pay much attention to the other boy, finding him rather dull, but Potter had latched onto him so…

"Does… Does Potter seem like he's pretending?" Longbottom reddened, backing up slightly. "Sorry, it's probably nothing."

Draco blinked, running over every encounter he'd had with Potter in his head. "...You know, I think you're ri-"

"YOU LYING SNAKE!"

Draco blanched and ran towards where that yell came from. "What in Merlin's name is going on?" He hissed angrily, scanning the scene. Weasley was trying to lunge at a pale Potter, trying being the stressed word here. Crabbe and Goyle were holding back the redhead and Granger was surprisingly trying to comfort Potter while simultaneously glaring at her housemate. Huh. Perhaps she was a decent sort.

"But on the train…?" Potter wavered, tears filling up his green eyes. "You wanted to be my friend then!"

"That's before you went traitor!" Weasley spit angrily.

"How on earth could Potter go traitor?" Granger lashed out, rage poofing her hair. "Just because he sorted differently? How stupid can you be?"

Well, Draco had to give it to her. She was good. Not as terrifying as his mother, but she could be one day.

"All because I'm in Slytherin…?" Potter was understandably distraught. "How could you-" Longbottom was wrong. There was no way Potter had a mask. He was simply weird.

Draco tugged his housemate's sleeve to get his attention. He nearly flinched when those eyes landed on him. Potter's eyes were always so… intense. "Unfortunately, you'll find that there are always idiotic people in the world who can't think past meaningless lines. That being said, we're all going to be late for our next class if we don't hurry up."

Crabbe and Goyle dropped a startled Weasley at that clear dismissal and stepped behind Potter in a clear show of strength. Weasley spluttered for the moment. "You're such a fucking coward, Potter!"

"You-" Granger was seconds away from throwing herself down Weasley's throat.

"I'm the coward?" Potter glared angrily at the Gryffindor. The entire corridor went silent. Draco shivered at the sudden temperature shift. "At least I'm not a traitor. You were so ready to be my friend on the train and then you turned away. Why? Because I'm not in the same house as you?" Potter let his eyes wander over Weasley's frame contemptuously. "...Disgusting."

"Your parents would be ashamed of you!"

Potter's face morphed into an ugly expression, extremely pissed.

"Potter!" Draco warned. Golden Boy or not...

"25 points from Gryffindor!" They all jumped at McGonagall's bellow, eyes jumping to the Deputy Headmistress.

"B-But-" Weasley stuttered.

"For trying to attack another student in the halls both physical and verbal. And defamation of persons who you have no idea how they would react." She scathed angrily. "And Potter?"

"Erm… Yes." Potter blinked up at her.

"Both of them would both be very proud of you." McGonagall clapped her hands. "I believe Mister Malfoy is correct. You are all currently late for your next class. Dismissed!"

-0-

Severus never understood why he had to deal with Gryffindors and Slytherins at the same time. It was incredibly stupid to have a Potions class with the two most volatile Houses and it only added points to his 'Dumbledore is an idiot' column. "Harry Potter, our resident celebrity." Severus snarked absently.

"I'm a celebrity?" The horrified expression on Harry's face almost, **almost** had him smile. This child was nowhere near anything like his father. "Oh Lordie, is that why everyone keeps staring at me? 'Cuz it's really creepy to have complete strangers come up to you and shake your hand, thanking you for No-I-Don't-Know-Who's defeat or death which in of itself is incredibly morbid." Harry huffed.

"You don't know who You-Know-Who is?" A Weasley gaped openly. Murmurs spread through the classroom. Severus' brows raised in astonishment. That Petunia didn't know wasn't much of a surprise. That Dumbledore didn't mention anything to his charge was.

"Erm…No?" Harry slouched in his seat at the open staring, clearly uncomfortable. "Should I?"

"You-Know-Who or Lord V-Voldemort was a leader of a terrorist group called the Death Eaters that existed from the 50s to 1981 when You-Know-Who died after...after attacking your family." A bushy haired Gryffindor answered. "Apparently the Killing Curse bounced off you and hit him instead."

Harry opened and closed his mouth. "And people are thanking **me** because of that? Obviously my parents must have done something or, even more unlikely, I survived due to pure dumb luck! People are so stupid!" He fumed, throwing his hands in the air.

Severus snorted at that. That had been entirely Lily. "Five points to Slytherin for understanding one of the key facts of life. Continuing on…"

-0-

Harry strongly considered Defense to be a strange class. It said defense, but didn't teach how to actually fight. That might have been because of the teacher though. Professor Quirrell was

-0-

Medical

-0-

Bill Weasley

-0-

Tutoring/Animal Languages (Hermione and Draco joins in)

-0-

Fred & George Spy

-0-

Ron Apologizes

-0-

Halloween

-0-

Christmas

-0-

The Stone

-0-

Final

 **2nd Year**

-0-

Meeting Lucius and Ginny and Gilderoy Lockhart

-0-

Meeting Luna and Colin

-0-

Harry looked at him blankly. "I'm sorry?" Why was he being bombarded?

"Are you as deaf as you are stupid, Potter?" Flint snarled. "I said-"

"No, I heard you perfectly." Harry interrupted. "I'm just wondering who you are to condemn my choices." Interesting. Draco was hesitating, wanting to jump in, but something was holding him back. Shawn, on the other hand, was curious, waiting… Ah. She was waiting to see what he would do with Flint. So he was alone.

"Are you even listening anymore?" Flint growled angrily.

"Nope." Harry sighed, taking a look at his nails. He had a bloody hangnail again. Fantastic. "I try my best not to listen to stupidity." That forced a laugh out of his housemates. "So, are you going to keep wasting my time or what?" He needed to work on his History work or Mione would bust a fit.

"You aren't one of the Court, Potter. You can't order me around, being only a second year and all." Flint snarked.

Harry smiled tightly. "Well, actually as I outrank you, I can." Silence fell around the common room. "What? You haven't figured out yet? Well, let's see. I'm incredibly charming and a sight prettier than you will ever be, Flintie." Giggles resounded. "I'm powerful for being 'only a second year' and all the professors adore me, even our dear sour Head himself." Snape glared at him for this. "Oh, I'm apologize, Professor. I meant you can stand me more than the common pupil." Harry bowed teasingly. "Which is basically the same thing."

"Keep that up and I might even deduct points." Snape snarked. But Harry knew he was laughing on the inside.

"Yes, sir!" Harry saluted then turned back to the sixth year. "So, all of this and what exactly is your problem with me?"

"You are an embarrassment to Slytherin!" Flint was delightfully flushed. Then came the nail in the coffin. "Mingling with blood traitors and mudbloods, you're ruining our reputation as a House." He snarled.

Before, Harry had been treating this as a game. Now? He had insulted his friends. Now, it was on. "..." He glared at the sixth year. "Oh yes. Our reputation as backstabbers and filth." The tension was thick in the air. "If you want to point fingers,all you have to do is look in the mirror. We are known as nothing more than bullies and prejudiced snobs because of people like you. Of course it doesn't help that Voldemort," a collective wince" came from this house or Dumbledore is incredibly prejudiced against us," Harry was on a roll now, "going so far as to actually try to convince me to change houses. Now I don't actually think there's anything we can do about facts like this, but we can change our reputation if we stopped being arseholes! Seriously!" He sighed and ruffled his hair. "But OK, you can continue to be a bully if you really want to. I personally will ignore you until you grow up."

"You bring up some good points." Shawn nodded, signifying the end of the battle. "I will consider them."

"Thank you, Miss Shawn." Harry bowed, grinning now that the entire thing was over with.

"Well, that was-" Draco's eyes widened, focusing behind him… right where a mortified Flint had been standing! Stupid!

Harry switched into fight mode, dropping his bag as he jumped to avoid the spell. He twisted in the air to land facing the idiotic sixth year and lunged.

Wand gone and he's useless. Harry had to backflip, dodging another spell and losing the ground he had gained. He flung out his left hand, flicking the switch hidden in his sleeve. The manriki flew forward and smacked his wand hand. Harry jerked his arm to the right, smacking Flint in the head. He went down like a rock.

"Bloody hell! You got hit with the stupid stick today!" Harry huffed, flicking the switch again and the manriki rolled back into the hidden mechanism. "I'm going to bed." He stomped upstairs and burrowed into his bed, determined to become a burrito.

"...Well, that was dramatic." It wasn't even 5 minutes! Couldn't he get a bit of privacy?

"Go away, Draco." Harry pouted.

"No, that was too cool."

He looked up, surprised. "Really? You don't think I'm weird or freaky?"

Draco snorted, lounging beside him on the bed. "Oh no, that was definitely freaky."

"Thanks, Drake." Harry huffed. Some friend.

"You didn't let me finish." The blonde bopped him. "I was going to say that you probably decided to start learning… different ways of fighting because of the- You-Know-Who and his forces."

Harry considered this, sitting up. "Well… Not really. Dudley used to make a game of chasing me around and beating me up with his friends. He called it Harry Hunting. I started learning martial arts after Aunt Petunia left the Arse and well… I just always liked pointy things." He shrugged sheepishly.

"...Huh. That explains so much." Draco laughed. "I always thought you swung that way."

"What!" Harry spluttered, before getting it. "Drake! I'm not gay."

"Uh-huh." The blonde smirked. "Sorry, can you come out of the closet some time, Harry?"

"I'm bi, you doofus." He rolled his eyes. Honestly, the boy was acting like it was some sort of secret. "You're ridiculous."

"...Oh." Draco blinked. "Uhm..."

Harry grinned wolfishly. "Of course, you're not one to talk, Mister Lord of Narnia."

"Narni- Of course that's a muggle thing." Draco rolled his eyes. "What are you on about, Potter?"

"I saw you eyeing up a certain pair of ginger twins." Harry waggled his brows suggestively.

It was Draco's turn to splutter, much to Harry's amusement. "No, I- I'm not- That's not fair, Harry!"

"You are not allowed to date any of the Weasleys, Malfoy." Snape drawled as he swept in.

"Seriously, how does he do that?" Harry muttered under his breath. "Hi, Professor."

"Are you alright, Potter?" The professor asked.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. I'll be good." And that was that. Though some of the older students gave him odd looks at times, everyone else either ignored the incident or got shut up pretty fast. And of course, none of the other Houses heard that there was a fight at all.

-0-

Another Visit w/ Dumbledore, this time about the fight

-0-

Quidditch

-0-

Halloween and Taking the Diary

-0-

Christmas

-0-

Valentine's Day

-0-

 **Third Year**

-0-

"So who's this? A new professor?"

"He's a friend of my dad's." Harry shrugged, deciding to praise Draco later for not immediately judging Lupin on his shabby clothes and scars. "His name's Remus Lupin. I'm glad Dumbledore hired him. He deserves it and I can go a year without a DA teacher trying to kill me."

Lupin's eyes popped open at this and he sat up. "Your teachers tried to kill you?"

"Oh! Were we too loud?" Hermione panicked a little. "We're so sorry."

The professor smiled. "It's not a problem, Miss. My hearing's just sensitive."

"That's a side effect of your illness, isn't it?" Harry stretched in his seat, ignoring the obvious fact that the man had woken when they entered the compartment. "Do you need help with it?"

Lupin blinked, jaw dropping. "Ah… No. Professor Snape's providing me with the necessary potions."

Harry grinned, glad that he was getting the help he needed. "He is? That's great! Severus is awesome."

That made the professor laugh in surprise. "Is that so?"

"Uh-huh." He nodded sagely.

"Mmh." Lupin was grinning oddly. "You haven't made me forget the teacher bit."

Harry pouted, much to his traitor friends' chuckles. "Darn it."

The rest of the train ride consisted of Hermione telling of the past two years, Draco butting in with commentary, and Harry trying to derail the conversation and pouting. Neville was useless. Too busy laughing his stupid probably striped socks off. He had a lot of striped socks.

-0-

They were getting off when Lupin pulled Harry aside. "How did you know who I was? You can't have remembered that far back."

"I didn't have to." Harry shrugged. "Aunt Petunia told me about you and your name was on your trunk."

"Huh." Lupin ran a hand through his hair. "I didn't think Petunia would bother."

Harry put a hand on his upper arm, ignoring the pain for the moment. "Professor, Petunia's changed. A lot of her bitterness toward magic had to do with jealousy and feeling that she was second-best. And being able to stand on her two feet away from the Worst-Asshole-to-Ever-Live, and yes I can say that if people insist on calling me similar stuff, has enabled her to become the person she should have been. She's amazing and has helped me even though I can't touch people."

Lupin glanced down at the hand on his arm in surprise, then confusion. "Thank you, Harry. I appreciate it." He said though. He was obviously going to bring that up later.

"No problem, Professor." Harry grinned, dropping his grip and shaking his hand stealthily. "Now, if you can convince her that I'm too old to be coddled, that'd be great."

-0-

It wasn't until that night in the Slytherin dorm room that the other shoe dropped. "...Sorry, what did you say?"

Blaise rolled his eyes. "I asked what sort of protections are in place to protect you from Sirius Black?"

Harry considered the question. That was his godfather, right? Who had betrayed his parents to Baldemort? "Uhm… Isn't he in Azkaban?"

"You don't know?" Draco's head popped up from his chest. "He broke out this summer! The first person to ever break out of Azkaban!"

"I didn't hear anything about that." He frowned. Why hadn't Dumbledore written him or Aunt Petunia?

"It was all over the Prophet." Theo huffed, looking up from his book. "How did you not know?"

"You mean that trash rag that thinks that laws don't apply to it?" Harry sniped, feeling defensive. Draco at least found him funny if his snort was anything to go by.

"Seriously though, what are you going to do?" Blaise reiterated. "Black's going to come after you."

Harry huffed. They were going to keep hounding him, so he couldn't just shrug it off. "Well… I adopted a dog over the summer. I'll ask Auntie to send him over after clearing it with Professor Snape."

Theo snorted. "A dog? How's that going to protect you?"

"He's a big dog, alright?" Harry pouted. "Chappie's protective too, almost ripped someone apart for me."

"Chappie?" Draco hit his head on the chest lid, he shot up so fast. "What sort of name is Chappie?"

"It's because he's a good chap!"

"..." Even Vincent and Gregory were gaping at him.

"What?"

"I'm just going to pretend that those words did not come out of your mouth." Blaise murmured, looking a little green.

"What?"

"What the hell! The Boy-Who-Lived is as dumb as rocks!" Draco fumed. "Father will not believe this!"

"Oi! Don't call me that, you brat!" Harry tossed a pillow Draco's way. "You know I hate it and I am not dumb!"

"Yes you are!" Draco threw the pillow back, hitting Harry right in the face.

Harry slung the pillow back, hitting Theo instead. The ensuing pillow fight was amazing.

-0-

It was official. Professor Lupin was the best DA teacher they **ever** had. He was setting the students against magical creatures in a controlled environment and letting them defeat their worst fears.

Harry was literally bouncing in place, excited for this. But he hung out in the back, wanting to watch first. Draco was next to him for a very different reason. "It's going to be OK."

"W-Who said it wasn't?" The blonde snarked, but still obviously nervous. "This is just stupid."

"Well then," Lupin had swooped in next to them "you won't mind going next."

Draco spluttered but despite his protests he was soon standing in front of the cabinet. Harry frowned. This wasn't like his friend at all. Harry decided to go to the front next to Hermione, who apparently feared failing her classes, so he could jump in if needed. Depending on what it was of course.

The door creaked open and Harry's heart dropped. If Lucius had been abusing his son, they were going to have words. And not the nice kind.

Boggart-Lucius sneered. "You're not good enough to be my son."

Oh thank the heavens, just rejection.

Harry, dragging Hermione with him, jumped between the two Malfoys. "That's because you can't see the awesome person he is." He grinned. There was more than one way to defeat a boggart. "Ri-"

[Input]

"Well, good job to all of you. Ron, I think you're next." Lupin pulled Draco and Harry into a corner while Ron faced off with a big hairy spider. Hermione followed them. "Mister Malfoy, will you be alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be good." Draco nodded, obviously still recollecting his equilibrium.

Harry took his friend's hand and squeezed. "Fear of rejection is actually pretty normal. Just talk to your dad about it."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "He'll be able to help far more than we can as he was the form chosen by the boggart." Behind them, the class was laughing as Ron managed to get the Acromantula on roller skates.

[Input]

Lupin's gaze was warm and Hermione squeezed Harry's hand in thanks. Draco looked a little stunned, but then he smiled. "Just don't forget to take time for yourself, Scarhead."

"OK." Harry's insides were all warm and fuzzy. He wasn't sure what to call this feeling, but he liked it. "You know, Professor, you should have us face off against the worst of ourselves. It'd be a great learning experience."

Lupin was mystified but shrugged. "I'll see if there's a spell or object for that if you really want to give it a try. But I don't know if I'll use it in class."

-0-

Back over in Ireland, Chappie had been staring pensively out the window for the last few hours, watching people go by. How was he going to protect Harry when the pup was at school and he was over here? As much as he appreciated being a part of his family in someway- Was-Was that…. No…

But a certain dour man crossed the street and entered the small cafe. "I suppose you're Chappie." The man sneered.

Chappie growled in response, not bothering to get up. Fucking s-

"Oh! Severus!" Petunia came up briskly, flushed. "It's so good to see you. How have you been doing?" Was she-? No… She couldn't possibly have a crush on him of all people... Chappie huffed. His brains were just addled.

"As well as can be expected." Severus bowed his head. "And yourself?"

"Me?" Petunia blushed even harder. She was! "Oh, I'm fine. Just fine."

An awkward silence fell between them.

"The dog." Molly prompted from behind them. Oh how Chappie loved that woman.

"Yes! Chappie!" Petunia's entire face was red now. "W-Why don't you come to the back? I've prepared a travel bag for him. Come on, Chappie." Severus and the dog followed the woman silently into the busy kitchen.

"And how is Mister Dudley?" Severus asked. Chappie eyed the man. What was his game?

"Oh, he's doing well. He's in the wrestling team now."

"Yes, Harry mentioned something about that. Apparently he won a medal?"

"Yes, second place. In here." Petunia ushered them into her office, a small room consisting of a desk and chair, filing cabinets, and a blanket in the corner for Chappie. "Here," she handed the dour man a red bag, "I've packed his essentials: his favorite treats and stuff like that." Wait. What was going on? "Here's his dietary needs." Petunia handed Severus a paper which he promptly tucked into his robes. "Chappie was incredibly thin when we adopted him." She explained.

Severus nodded. "I see." What. The. Hell.

"Ah, right." She scurried behind the desk and fetched his leash. "Here, let me." She leaned down and attached it to his collar. "You be good, alright Chappie? Protect Harry?"

The dog woofed in agreement, tail wagging, earlier consternation forgotten. He was going to see Harry!

-0-

Harry bounced in place, despite Mister Filch's scowl. He could do patient, just couldn't do still. And at least he was doing it quietly.

Finally, the fireplace roared and out stepped two figures. "Professor….?" Harry cocked his head. The potions professor looked like he'd been dragged through the mud!

"Here." Severus snarled angrily. "Your dog is a menace."

Harry winced. "I'm so sorry! Chappie! Professor Snape is a friend!" He scolded the big dog who had a betrayed look in his eyes. He had no reason to be! "Don't be rude!"

"At least all's well that ends well." Dumbledore interceded, smiling cheerfully. "Severus, why don't you freshen up? I'll escort Mister Potter to his dorms."

Harry nodded to Severus' blank look. He'd be OK. "Have a good night, Professor!" He waved cheerfully.

"Chappie, this is Mrs. Norris." ...Was the Headmaster actually introducing two animals to each other? "You'll need to listen to her, understood?" Dear Lord, he was.

Mister Filch and Harry shared a look. The entire reason the grumpy caretaker was there was so that Potter and Dumbledore wouldn't be alone together. "Chappie, speak." Harry hissed out of the corner of his mouth. The dog did as commanded.

"Fantastic! Such a smart dog." Dumbledore straightened. "Good night, Mister Filch." He bowed his head graciously.

"...Good night, Headmaster."

Harry followed Dumbledore out of the small atrium with Chappie in hand. "Mister Potter… There's something I've been wondering about that I hope you can clear up for me."

"...OK?" He eyed the Headmaster. Where was he going with this? "Go ahead."

Dumbledore stroked his beard. "Hm… How do I put this? ... How much of how you treat Professor Snape is fake?"

-0-

-0-

Lupin meets Chappie and tells stories of parents

-0-

Dementors in Hogwarts

-0-

Healing Dementors

-0-

Halloween

-0-

Christmas

-0-

Pettigrew is captured

-0-

End of the Year or Sirius and Petunia Speak

-0-

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **You know, I actually really wish there was more people facing off the worst bits of themselves in a controlled environment so they can learn and be better for it.**_

 **Fourth Year**

-0-

The Cup

-0-

Back to Hogwarts

-0-

The Other Schools

-0-

The Goblet or Harry is Fed Up

-0-

The Bullying

-0-

The first challenge. Oh fuck the first challenge in all its ridiculous mess. Why the fuck did it have to be dragons? Literal days pouring over every book in the library with Draco and Hermione and Ginny and no luck. Dragons were freaking powerhouses in every sense of the word. They were highly resistant to magic, as strong as ten oxen, and were as tenacious as shit. Fucking fire-breathing dragons.

So Harry kept on hoping that a fairy would come along to charm the dragon until the final moments. He was sick to his stomach in fear, really not wanting to be eaten by a dragon.

"Harry! You can do this!" Hermione clutched his hands tightly. They were behind the champion tent with 10 minutes until showtime.

"Oh sure, just fly past a nesting dragon to grab what she thinks is her baby, great plan. Whose fucking idiotic idea was this again?" It felt hard to breathe. "I'm sicking Severus on them!"

"Breathe!" Draco ordered. "You're going to be fine. Just get in, get out."

Harry took a shaky breath. "R-Right. Get in, get out. Get in, get out." He repeated this mantra to himself as they handed out dragon figurines. He repeated it to himself as he waited for his turn. He wasn't sure if he should be glad that he was last or not.

"You can do this." Severus whispered to him before shoving him out of the tent.

"Oh good lord." Harry whimpered. Fucking dragons. He- No. That was not going to help. Shut down the emotions. All that matters is the goal. He faced monsters before and he will do it again.

So he straightened himself and breathed evenly as he stepped into the arena. His gaze sharpened and landed on the massive beast coming out of the cave. It had to be admitted that the dragon made a darn good entrance.

He focused in on the dragon and breathed.

Then that great head lowered to his eye level, though it was still yards and yards away. " _Death bringer, please allow me my hatchlings."_

" _...What?"_ Harry blinked. He shouldn't be understanding the dragon. The dragon tongue was far different from the snake tongue, communicating in roars and rumbles rather than hisses.

The dragon looked away sadly. " _Ah, you are here for me then. I ask for only that-"_

" _Hold on a moment!"_ The boy interrupted her. " _Just wait! Don't go assuming things, OK? I am not here for you or your hatchlings!"_

" _You're not?"_ The dragon perked up and that about broke his heart. The poor dear must have lost hatchlings before. He came closer without thinking about it. " _Then why are you here?"_

Harry sighed and ruffled his hair. " _I'm competing in a tournament, a series of games. You have a fake golden egg that they gave you among your hatch and I'm supposed to get it from you without getting hurt or damaging your hatch."_

The dragon's eyes narrowed. " _This does not seem like a wholesome game to play."_

Harry snorted. " _You're telling me. Some idiot wizard decided to bring it back and I wasn't even supposed to legible for the tournament. Someone who wants to kill me put my name in."_

This time it was the dragon who snorted. " _Stupid wizards. You cannot kill a death bringer."_ Well, good thing there was a difference between death bringers and wizards. He would have thrown a fit if that was the case.

" _Uhm...This is my first time hearing that term. What is a death bringer?"_ Harry asked, feeling exhausted despite being able to talk to a freaking dragon! The tournament had completely thrown him and now this on top of it?

" _You do not know what a death bringer is?"_ The dragon settled back on her haunches. " _You do not know of your powers? Your inability to die? Taking souls? You at least are able to ignore Babel's law."_

" _Well… I die, I just come back again. Like a cockroach."_ Harry gave a shrug, taking a mental note of the characteristics she gave him for further research. " _I've never taken a soul though."_

" _Perhaps you are a young death bringer or the child of a death bringer? You should search one out."_ The dragon nodded firmly. " _Find a place where death is common."_

Harry bowed. " _Thank you, I really appreciate it."_ That's when he noticed the silence. The crowd was staring at him. " _Uhm… I think I need to wrap this up. May I have the egg, lady?"_

The dragon sighed and took the fake egg in her claw. " _I suppose. It will not hatch?"_

" _No, I'm afraid not."_ Harry bowed again when she handed it to him. " _Thank you, lady. I pray that your hatch will be bountiful."_

The dragon bowed her head. " _And may your life have meaning."_

-0-

Harry honestly felt both shafted and validated. He hadn't actually been in any danger but he learned that he probably had a creature inheritance. Dumbledore had taken off points for using a 'dark talent' but his face when Harry called him out for calling speaking to creatures a dark talent was fantastic. Ron had apologized finally but it was honestly too late.

"Ron, I don't think you understand." Harry rubbed his forehead, feeling a migraine coming on. Hermione and Ron had basically ambushed Draco and him on the way back to the dorms. "You abandoned me when I needed you most. It's going to take time for me to let you back in and this will still affect our relationship for years to come."

"But he was just jealous!" Hermione interceded. Draco scoffed. They obviously had a fight about letting Ron talk to Harry. "He's not-"

Harry held up a hand. "Mione, it's sweet that you want to stick up for him, but he's a big boy and can take the consequences of his actions." He turned back to his former friend. "Ron, I get that emotions are messy and confusing. You need a better way to deal with them, OK?"

Ron swallowed uncertainly. "OK." Then he nodded confidently. "Yeah, OK."

"Thank you." Harry sighed, relieved that that was over, and propped the giant egg on his hip. "I should get going. I need to talk to Professor Snape about something."

"Fine." Draco nodded, obviously not pleased that Harry had given Ron an olive branch.

"Prepare the chocolate, OK?" Harry laughed, but it fell short awkwardly.

Thankfully, Draco took it. "You got it, Potty." They all left the room to go their separate ways.

"Mione. I need some help." That stopped Hermione right in her tracks.

"What is it?" Her brow furrowed. "Is it about the tournament?"

"Sorta." Harry rubbed the back of his head. "Uhm… When I was speaking to the dragon, she mentioned something a bit weird. A creature called a 'death bringer': immortal and soul related and something else called Babel's Law. Could you research it for me?"

"Of course, Harry." She nodded, her curls bouncing with her head. "I'll start working on it tomorrow."

"C'mon. I'll walk you to the stairs." Harry motioned her forwards. "So. This was one hell of a way to find out I can talk to dragons."

Hermione snorted before she could help herself. "Harry!"

"What? It's true!" He grinned. "Ow! Mione!" He rubbed his sore arm where she hit him.

"You deserved it." She sniffed snobbishly. Draco was rubbing off on her. "It's a bit strange though."

"What is?" Harry grumbled as he readjusted the egg.

"When you spoke Dracontongue, it didn't sound like any description of it that I've ever read. You just moved your mouth a lot. No sound."

Harry blinked, not expecting that. "I just… moved my mouth?"

"Uh huh." Hermione nodded. "Why?"

"It's just…" Harry shook his head. "I'll let you know after I speak to Severus."

"Professor Snape." She glared at him.

"Mione, I want him to be my uncle. It'd be a bit weird to call him Professor." Harry laughed as Hermione spluttered at that.

-0-

Severus knew that Harry wanted to see him. Granted, Draco told him, but it still gave him enough time to get to his office and have hot chocolate ready when Harry came in. And cue the grumbling about psychic powers. ...Or not.

The boy simply dumped the egg by the door and plopped into a seat. "Hi."

"Harry." The professor leaned back in his chair, letting Harry take the lead. He obviously needed to get something out.

"Did Lily have a creature inheritance?"

Not what he was expecting. "Not that I'm aware of, no." Severus adjusted in his seat. No matter how many cushioning charms he put on it, it still hurt no matter what the headmaster said.

"Did James?"

At this, he scowled. "I'm not the one to talk to about that."

Harry ran a hand over his face. "OK… who do I talk to to find out? 'Cuz I don't think Remus or Sirius would know."

"The goblins. They have a special ritual for Creature Inheritance." Severus answered. "Should I be informed that you are part dragon in the future?"

The boy laughed, a dull contrast to his usual brightness. "I wish. No, the dragon called me a 'death bringer'. She thought I was going to kill her and her babies."

Severus' mouth instantly dried up. "Ah." He grabbed a parchment and quill. "I will escort you to Gringotts then."

-0-

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE SAID NO?" Draco looked up from his potion in surprise. His godfather had just taken Harry out into the hallway to talk. "HE CAN'T DO THAT! I AM LEGALLY-" The entire class was listening in now. A few moments later, a livid Harry stalked back into the room. "Magical guardian, my ass!" He plopped down into his seat and fumed, mumbling about jackasses and lemons.

Severus swept into the classroom, about as pleased. "What are you dunderheads doing? Get back to work."

Draco coughed and turned to his partner. "You are telling me what just happened later."

"Fine." Harry gritted out. "The others should be there too."

-0-

Several hours later, the twins, Hermione, Draco, Luna, and Ginny were waiting in an empty classroom off the sixth floor when Severus swept in. They paled and lept up.

"And what are you dunderheads doing here?" Severus sneered, enjoying their fright.

Then Harry ruined it all by laughing as he came in. "Do you really have to frighten my friends?"

"Yes." Came the terse answer.

The youngest Weasley gaped openly, not used yet to their antics. The twins and Draco chuckled while Hermione facepalmed. Luna wasn't paying attention.

"OK, everyone, let's sit down." Severus procured a seat behind the teacher's desk as the rest took their seats again. Harry pushed himself onto a desk. "I gathered you here because I trust all of you." He said frankly.

"Draco, Hermione, you've been there since the beginning and haven't wavered." Draco sat up straighter, flushed with pride, as Hermione grinned widely.

"Fred, George, you've always been there to drag me out of the halls when it got too much and you gave me help in your own weird way." The twins awwed and squished Harry between them.

"Thank you/sooo much/ **Harry**!"

"OK! Off, let me finish!" Harry mock scolded them. "This is important." They withdrew, but stayed by his side. "Ginny, you decided to befriend Luna and she says you're good. That's enough for me." Ginny's mouth fell open in surprise. "Luna...enough said."

"Thank you, Harry." Luna smiled serenely.

"I don't think you gathered us together just to stroke our egos." Hermione huffed, before eyeing Draco. "No matter how much much some of us might enjoy it." At that, Draco stuck his tongue out.

Harry snickered. He was very glad that he was able to get them to get along. "Well, the core of it is that I think I need to sue Dumbledore, and I'm not quite sure how."

"Wait… what?" Surprisingly, it was Draco that broke the silence. "How do you know?"

Severus took it upon himself to answer this. "Because when I requested a day off to take Harry to Gringotts for an Inheritance test, Dumbledore denied both the request and the trip."

Hermione spluttered. "W-What?"

Ginny leaped to her feet. "That's illegal! It's the right of every citizen to get tested!" She cried out fiercely.

Harry snorted. "Apparently, he's my Magical Guardian. As he is the supreme Dumbledore, he gets all the benefits of being my guardian: serving as my proxy for my seats, taking over my finances, marriage contracts, and more without any of the responsibilities involved. He should have visited, taught me about the magical world and my responsibilities, and made sure I was safe."

Hermione sank her hands into her thick hair. Ginny slowly sat back down with Luna's help, face pale. Draco's lips were tight, silver eyes alit with fury.

The twins glomped Harry again. "Do you have a plan, fearless leader?"

"...Maybe."

-0-

An hour of hashing things out later, Luna smiled. "It's a good plan, Harry."

"OK." Harry leaned back, smiling back gratefully. "Then it's settled."

"Wha-Just like that?" Draco spluttered.

"Just like that." He nodded.

Severus raised a brow. Harry had immediately, without complaint, bent to Lovegood's will. There was a story behind that. "Harry, get started on the letter. Draco, get Lucius in on this." Severus ordered. "Granger, I will get you help to research the laws. Look for loopholes, exceptions. Leave no stone unturned."

"My Weasleys, you need to run diversionary tactics. You can get Ron in, don't tell him the whole story though. Just enough to convince him." Harry ordered. "Luna…"

The girl looked at her in pity. "I'm sorry, it will be in the lake."

"Dammit." Harry ruffled his hair. "OK. I'll write the letter, then focus on the second task. Draco, you're going to help me. We'll need to focus on locating charms, underwater survival, and how to temporarily shut down panic attacks. Let's do this."

"Understood!"

-0-

Harry had been underwater for far too long. Severus eyed the headmaster suspiciously. It would not surprise him if the goat had chosen this especially for Harry.

Then he finally surfaced with two people in tow, Luna and a small girl. Harry pushed them out of the water and then pulled himself out.

Severus strode up to him, handing him a towel. Harry walked past, focusing in on...Dumbledore. Severus grabbed Harry's arm and yanked him to the tent. "You will ruin everything if you speak to him now, you dunderhead." Severus hissed into his ear. "You need to leave him alone."

"Fine." The glassy look paired with the cold voice gave him shivers.

"Harry!" Fleur ran up to him with the little girl in tow. "You saved my-"

"Not now, Miss Delacour." Severus tugged Harry into a sitting position. "Malfoy! Where's the antidote?"

"Right here, sir." Draco rushed over, having just entered the tent with Granger and the Weasleys, and handed over a vial. "It should have worn off by now."

The professor uncorked the vial and gave it to Harry. "We knew this was a possibility. Drink it all in one gulp, Potter."

Harry did and promptly fell over. Severus caught him before he hit the ground.

"What's wrong with him?" Crouch asked nervously, no doubt worried about his precious tournament.

"Harry is hydrophobic." Granger answered, transfiguring her coat into a pillow for Harry. Fleur gasped behind them. "We had to use a potion that temporarily blocked all emotion and didn't get to test it beforehand."

"Severus, does he need to go to the Hospital Wing?" Dumbledore asked with grandfatherly concern in his voice.

"No. He just needs to rest for a few hours until the antidote finishes its job and not be touched by any magic." Severus replied. "I would recommend him being taken to his quarters instead."

"I see." Dumbledore nodded, transfiguring a parchment roll into a stretcher.

"There we go, honey." Fred and George lifted the boy onto the stretcher. "Shall we/take him/ **in**?"

"Fine, but be careful!" Draco warned, guiding the group out.

"Harry did all that under such a disability?" Fleur asked, eyes watering. She hugged her sister even tighter. "He is so brave and strong!"

Severus had to agree with the French girl. Harry Potter was definitely strong. But brave? More like idiotic.

-0-

Christmas

-0-

Third Challenge

-0-

Harry huddled on the ground, grasping the large gash in his arm. After the Portkey, it had been a blur… mostly water and pain. Pettigrew digging his knife into the boy's shoulder. Harry was not ashamed to admit that he was crying. The cauldron, his blood, bone of the father. The rat cutting off his own hand…

Harry took the distraction that Voldemort provided by resurrecting himself to rebuild and bury all of his flighty emotions until later. So by the time when Voldemort called his followers, Harry was standing, wet and shaky, but standing. And that is what mattered. He was so glad-

"Harry Potter." Voldemort was facing him. "The Boy Who Lived." Harry was suddenly very unsure of his ability to read people. The Dark Lord was a snake in a human-ish form and his penchant for deception was well-known.

"I have your diary." Harry blurted out. It was literally the only thing he could think of to help him right now. "And your locket and diadem. You know, you really shouldn't leave such important things lying around? I mean, look at what happened in my first year with the stone. Dumbledore really got hit with the stupid stick." So the blood loss was getting to him. Not much he could do about that right now. He had to barter for his life now.

"Oh really." Voldemort was… dammit, he was so hard to read! But given a guess? Probably stunned and recalculating. "I don't suppose you have them on you."

Harry snorted. "I'm not stupid… Just the locket." He'd show him...but he couldn't really afford to. "My friends have standing orders to destroy the other two if I'm die at any point in the tournament. Besides, I think you would want an actual duel where I could put up some semblance of a fight rather than a slaughter."

"Are you asking me to let you go?" A cold smile spread on his stupid snake face. Was he amused or playing him? 'Cuz amused was definitely the way to go.

"If you don't mind." Harry blinked. Shit. "Uhm… Could you make up your mind sometime soon? I don't think I'm supposed to be so lightheaded."

-0-

Harry woke up, staring at a very familiar ceiling. "Why do I always end up here?"

"I suppose it's because you make it your personal mission to do so." Madame Pomfrey snarked, giving him a glare. "You are by far my most troublesome patient."

"What can I say?" He shrugged. "I just like looking at your lovely face."

The healer couldn't help but to laugh.

-0-

End of the Year

 **Fifth Year**

-0-

Beginning of the Year

-0-

The Umbitch

-0-

Making Plans

-0-

 **Sixth Year**

-0-

On the Run

-0-

Saving the Cup or Bellatrix likes Harry

-0-

"I still can't believe you." Hermione grumbled.

"I was fine." Harry defended, looking properly ashamed. "...Please don't tell anyone else?"

"You-" She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "You're telling them yourself next time. I'm getting the first aid kit."

"Fine." He huffed and grabbed the mail on the coffee table in front of him. Hermione rolled her eyes and entered the kitchen to fetch the kit. "Oo! Molly wrote! Not Mrs Weasley, but Auntey's right hand."

"Really?" Hermione always liked the strong woman. "What does she say?" Silence. "Harry?" She reentered the living room with kit in hand. "...Harry?! What is it?" He had paled dramatically.

Harry focused in on her, momentarily dazed. "Oh, sorry. Uhm… She's fine. Molly. It's just... Aunt Tuney's closed down the cafe for a little while."

"Is she OK?" Hermione frowned, sitting next to him. "Take off your shirt."

"Any chance to get me naked, huh?" He joked. "Uhm… Yeah. Molly hasn't talked to her in a while so she wants me to go check on Auntey."

"You should take someone with you." She said, focusing on taking care of her idiot.

"Nah, I'll be fine." Harry shrugged. "I'll just pop on over."

"It wasn't a suggestion."

Harry was silent for a while. "Fine, I'll take Severus and tell Auntey that he was worrying about her."

Hermione snorted. "You're evil."

"Never said I wasn't."

-0-

Severus was leaning over a potion when Harry burst in. "Haven't you bothered me enough for one day?" He snarked. He'd been offered basilisk bits earlier to say he'd taken a trip with Harry to check on the cafe. He did wonder where the boy had gotten the basilisk parts though.

Harry plopped onto his stool nearby, not saying anything with… Severus straightened. Last time he had seen this look, Harry had asked him about a possible creature inheritance. "So...uhm…"

"What is it?" Severus felt a headache coming on.

Harry took a breath and looked him straight on. "I need you to give a message to Voldemort for me."

"...You want me to…" The man's brow twitched. "What exactly does this message entail?"

Harry told him and he wanted to strangle the boy.

-0-

Voldemort paused, glancing up at Lucius. "He wants to...what?"

"He wants to parley, milord." The blond patriarch repeated. "Severus' exact words were that he 'wishes to discuss the exact terms of his surrender'."

The Dark Lord wondered at Potter's play.

-0-

"This is a stupid idea!" Hermione hissed in his ear.

Harry winced. His announcement of his decision wasn't met well with his friends. "We were already going to let him win though."

"It makes some sense." Draco rubbed his nape as they entered Gringotts. The goblins had agreed to oversee the treaty discussions.

"He wants me, he gets me on my terms." Harry nodded. He had decided on these two for his advisors. For intelligence and relative calm. The others would be lunging over tables within minutes. Luna, on the other hand, was going nowhere near Voldemort. Draco for his political knowledge and to unnerve Lucius, because obviously Voldemort would want him along. Hermione because muggleborn and for her legal knowledge.

They approached the goblin head, Ragnarok. "Master Goblin." Draco bowed. This was a situation of propriety and no room for familiarity. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry noted Rita Skeeter discreetly taking a picture of them. Then Voldemort entered, distracting him from the annoying bug and his neck prickling with the aura the man exuded.

True to what he thought, Voldemort brought Lucius and, surprisingly, Rodolphus Lestrange. "Master Goblin." Lucius bowed. His eyes were on Draco though. "...Heir Malfoy."

Harry brushed Draco's hand comfortingly. Draco stared his father straight in his face. "Lord Malfoy." His voice was unwavering and confident.

Harry withheld a smirk. Good on you, Draco. Finally outgrowing your father. A look of regret passed over Lucius' face before being hidden by the famous Malfoy mask. "Shall we?"

Draco inclined his blond head. "We shall."

"Follow me if you would." The group followed Ragnarok into a conference room and took seats across from each other. The Malfoys sat across from each other, Harry from Voldemort in the middle, and Rodolphus across from Hermione. Ragnarok sat at the head of the table. "As discussed beforehand, the parties Lord Voldemort and Lord Potter have agreed to a meeting of neutrality to discuss a treaty considering the future of Wizarding Britain, bringing two advisors." Ragnarok pushed forward two parchments and two Blood Quills. Hermione took theirs. "These are copies of the contract drawn up for this meeting. Please look it over before signing."

Hermione handed it over for Harry's perusal, nodding. It was just for this meeting, banning any magic while it continued. If any magic had to happen, Ragnarok would perform it. It also banned any aggressive action and ensured that each side would sincerely consider the other's words. Usually the magic ban would suffice, but considering Harry's abilities and the age divide...yeah. Harry signed it first before Hermione then Draco did. That order was chosen on purpose beforehand. It showed that Harry considered Hermione more powerful than Draco.

Ragnarok took the contracts back and combined them, before sending them into the archives. The magic settled over the group. "Very well." He summoned a roll of parchment and a quill. "The treaty between Lord Voldemort and Lord Potter will now be discussed."

Voldemort opened his mouth to speak, but Harry steamrolled him. "Lord Voldemort, I thank you for meeting me today." Show respect and don't give him the chance to insult you. "There are four different pieces I wish to discuss : magical creature rights, children's rights, the judicial system and finally my surrender. Is there another piece you wish to bring up?"

The Dark Lord, dammit it was hard to read him with his blank features, he seemed surprised though. "Yes in fact, Lord Potter. What to do about Dumbledore."

Harry nodded, hiding his surprise. If he hadn't brought up Dumbledore, Harry would have remained at the position of supplicant and Voldemort the one indulging him. This evened out the playing field. "I am fine with this, Lord Voldemort. What shall we discuss first?" Acknowledge his power and higher position.

"Perhaps the judicial system?" Voldemort leaned on his hands. "What exactly are your issues with it?"

"My personal experiences and Lord Black's case has made me cynical of the current system." Harry explained.

"Ah." Why did his face have to be so closed off? Even Lucius showed more emotion. "What are your ideas?"

"Miss Granger?" Harry referred to her. "You can explain it better than I can." Again, showing off his respect and reliance on a muggleborn.

"Of course, Lord Potter." Hermione bowed her head. "Our idea is to-" Harry tuned her out, already knowing what she was going to say, having a hand in creating it. The new judicial system would have different levels: low for disputes and petty crimes, medium for heavier crimes and high for abuse, rape, etc. The low would be governed by a judge, medium a jury with a judge presiding, and high a court specially chosen for being fair and just that was voted in by the Wizengamot. Counts of terrorism or mass murder would be judged by the Minister and Wizengamot. Any false accusations would be investigated for slander and if found guilty, the one in question would be fined heavily or imprisoned depending on the accusation.

Instead, he watched Voldemort, studying him. When Hermione finished with her explanation, Voldemort nodded at Lucius who immediately began grilling her. Hermione showed off her mettle admirably, answering each of his questions in their turn. "That wouldn't actually be part of the judicial system's job. I'm assuming that there are already an abuse department that people can go to and the Department for Children is a part of another piece."

Lucius nodded. "I have no more questions, milord."

"Very well." Voldemort replied. "You build an excellent case, Lord Potter." Acknowledging Harry and Hermione to a much lesser extent. "I have no issues with your suggestions. However, I do suggest a separate court and police for abuse cases."

Harry nodded. "I am satisfied with that. May I suggest the magical creature piece next?" This one went a similar path, led by Draco this time. Harry really couldn't trust Hermione not to go for house elf rights. Reference to Remus Lupin, full rights as a citizen of Britain, proper help to those who were suffering from transformation curses. Even a call for better advancements in mental health. What was a surprise was Draco slipping in a suggestion for 'better maintenance of servant creatures'.

Voldemort gestured to Rodolphus to question the young Malfoy. Now Harry understood why he brought Bellatrix's husband along. The man was a smooth talker. "And what about these...servant creatures?"

Here we go. Harry nearly laughed at Draco's predatory smirk. "You have to understand, Lord Lestrange. Growing up, I was served by house elves. I was taught from a young age that they are not friends and are, in fact, lessers. However, only five years ago, one of my family's house elves had to be transferred to Lord Potter's care as it was more loyal to him than it was to us due to a combination of kindness from Potter and other factors not Potter's fault. If this house elf can subvert its commands so far, then others might as well. So I suggest ensuring loyalty by allowing rights to the elves and other such servant creatures and to spread the arm of the abuse department to magical creatures such as this as well."

Harry had to pinch Hermione's leg to keep her from squealing. She hadn't been expecting this at all. Harry hadn't been expecting this. But Draco put such an attractive spin on it that he just couldn't find it in himself to be mad.

"Milord, I have no more questions."

"Very well." Voldemort seemed… amused? Ah, he had seen Hermione's expression and she was rather famous for championing magical creatures' rights. "Shall we do the children's piece next then?"

"Yes." Harry smiled, cracking his knuckles. "The general idea is to keep any and all children of magic, including squibs, away from muggles. They are far too susceptible and precious to be dropped off in the muggle world just willy nilly." Lucius and Rodolphus looked constipated. Voldemort, on the other hand, seemed interested. It was unusual what Harry was doing by presenting this piece himself. "And so, I am willing to convert the Potter Manor into an orphanage and head it if you back me. That way, squibs and abused magicals of every blood have a place to go where they can be safe and cared for. And if a child is dropped off in the muggle world, I would like prison time, but am open to discussion.

Also, muggleborns should be approached much sooner, perhaps when they first do magic? The Department for Child Care should introduce the muggle family to the wizarding world then and have the ability to remove a child if needed. They should also do regular check-ups on every family with an underage magical. I also would like Hogwarts' teachers to attend special classes to spot abuse and offer counseling as needed."

On the topic of Hogwarts, I would like in on the discussion of the curriculum. There are several classes I think would benefit the up and coming generations greatly. And for Merlin's sake, can we please get rid of Binns and get more stringent screening for teachers?"

"Harry!" Hermione hissed, smacking his leg and giving him a mighty glare.

"My apologies, I am...vexed by the current state of Hogwarts." Harry did his best to sound contrite. Which he really wasn't.

Thankfully, Voldemort seemed amused rather than anything else. "No worries, I am not offended by your passion. I would like to ask about how you came to be so impassioned about this subject." That was fair. His enemy came to him with a treaty and the piece he's most passionate about is one that hits home.

"Dumbledore. Who else?" Harry shrugged. "After you killed my parents, Dumbledore took advantage of Lord Black going after the true betrayer and dropped me off at my muggle relatives. Now, if it had been my grandparents, I wouldn't have had a problem and been raised relatively normally. But they had died a few years earlier and so it was my aunt who had a serious case of jealousy of my mother for being magical. She married someone she thought was normal but turned out to be manipulative and abusive.

I was two when I was put in the cupboard under the stairs and three when they started giving me chores." Harry paused, thinking over if he should, then showed them his scarred right palm. The two Death Eaters were horrified. "This happened when I was five. I burnt the bacon." He grinned maliciously.

"Only reason why I knew my own name was because of my aunt, trapped as she was by her husband and the child she had by him. Shortly after this" he waved his hand in the air "happened, she told me of the wizarding world. I managed to convince her to leave her husband and we started up a cafe in Ireland. Vernon was eventually arrested and imprisoned for 20 years.

In the meantime, Dumbledore had managed to seal my parents' will, successfully kept Lord Black and Master Lupin from taking up my case, and convinced the entire Wizarding World that I was safe. He became my Magical Guardian and didn't once check on me. He's blocked my every attempt to learn about my Inheritances and Lordship and he's even bullied, blackmailed, and banned every single lawyer that I try to hire, keeping me from suing the ever living shit out of him. So yeah, Dumbledore." It felt oddly freeing to discuss his frustrations with someone not already involved.

Voldemort leaned back, clearly considering this. "I see." He nodded, but Harry couldn't tell what he had decided. "I agree with all that you've said. The orphanage should have strict rules to abide by and be thoroughly checked so that all funds are properly used and all employees be properly vetted."

"Agreed. What next?" The only two pieces left was Dumbledore and himself.

"Dumbledore." Voldemort leaned forward. "My original plan was to simply kill him. But I see now that that course would simply make him a martyr and a symbol. Instead, I suggest that you become a… poster boy of sorts."

Harry blanked. Well, that was unexpected. "Uhm… what would that entail exactly?"

Voldemort grinned, just as malicious as Harry had earlier. "We need to discredit him and muggle reports are so easily infiltrated. A gutsy reporter can easily leak them into a newspaper, say the Prophet, and that kind of evidence is hard to dismiss. You, of course, are dismayed that your privacy was invaded but confirm it. Dumbledore wants you to be dumb, be it. The poor Saviour who is only just beginning to realize that he's been betrayed by a trusted advisor. Then when I take over, as a measure of good will, I will offer a trial of Dumbledore to you and you can question him under Veritaserum in front of the Wizengamot and, of course, a few reporters."

Harry's mind rushed over this plan. It was… perfect. It was evil. It was… "Awesome." Harry grinned. "He can't wiggle out of that. And even if he does escape capture, questions had already been raised."

"Glad you agree." Voldemort smirked. Silence reigned momentarily. "So…you. I'm assuming you don't simply want to vow not to attack each other?"

Harry took a breath to steady himself. This...this was the scary part. "No. I would like to make an unbreakable that we and our respective followers cannot attack each other with intent to harm, but there is a separate thing I would like. To ask of you, I mean."

"Harry?" Hermione hissed worriedly. He could feel Draco on the other side stiffen. He hadn't discussed this with either of them beforehand. And for good reason.

Voldemort's eyes narrowed. Suspicion. Pupils dilated slightly. Focus was entirely on Harry. Tense muscles. Predator response to the fear Harry was exuding. "And what is this...thing I can provide?"

Harry breathed. All he could do was jump. "Last week, one of my aunt's employees contacted me because she had closed up shop without notice. I went around and my aunt and cousin were gone. Nobody's seen or heard anything. I did sense a faint magical signature but I can't recognize it. The Aurors don't care about a pair of muggles that disappeared. So I am asking you to take up the trail."

Voldemort tapped his claw-like fingers on the table. "...And what are you willing to give up for this ...favor?"

"What do you wish for?" Harry replied smoothly. "I will do my best to fulfill it."

The Dark Lord smiled cruelly. "Such loyalty to lowly muggles."

"No, such loyalty to family." Harry corrected. And what a large family he had. Brothers and sisters (Hermione, Draco, Luna, Fred, George), a protective mother (yes, McGonagall was definitely a mother figure), a snarky father (Severus would have a heart attack), and all sorts of aunts and uncles (Sirius, Tonks, Petunia and more). And Harry would do just about anything to protect them. "So? Will you help me find my family?"

Voldemort seemed to be mulling over this, but he could also just be trying to freak Harry out. "Very well. As long as you answer one question." He leaned forward, staring intensely at him. "How did you know?"

Harry realized that he wasn't just asking about one thing. The Dark Lord wanted to know how he knew about the Horcruxes, Dumbledore. Well. This was going to be interesting. "I… am not prepared to speak about this in the present company." He waved towards the Death Eaters, but he meant Draco and Hermione as well. He really didn't want them to know. "I will prepare a confessional and send it to you when my family is returned."

"Agreed." Voldemort inclined his head. "So. Are you satisfied, Lord Potter?" He was proposing the end of the conference.

"I am, Lord Voldemort." Harry nodded.

"Very well." Ragnarok finally put the quill down. His poor hand was probably cramping. "The conference between Lord Voldemort and Lord Potter is over. It is now time to fulfill that which was agreed upon."

"Shall we?" Voldemort held out his arm.

Harry grasped it. "Yeah, I believe so."

-0-

"So that went better than expected." Harry ruffled his hair.

"It went better? It went BETTER"!" Draco hissed angrily, trying not to draw attention. "Why didn't you say anything about your family beforehand?"

"Well, because-" Harry trailed off,

"Because you're a damn idiot who can't help himself."


End file.
